RAVENNA, Ohio — The fallout continues for the Portage County Sheriff after he made a controversial Facebook post on his public page.
Friday afternoon, the Board of Elections dropped the sheriff, which means county security will provide coverage during in-person early voting after hearing concerns about "perceived intimidation" by sheriff Bruce Zuchowski "against certain voters."
In a Facebook post, the sheriff wrote that citizens should write down the addresses of Vice President Kamala Harris's supporters so they can take in immigrants — or, as he said, “human locusts.”
"I believe on TV, I said it was the stupidest thing I've ever seen. And I'll stick with that," said Commissioner Tony Badalamenti. "And I don't accept the excuse that he said it as a private citizen.”
Badalamenti told News 5 that the BOE made the request this afternoon.
"There are a lot of people that they believe would have a problem seeing a sheriff's vehicle in the parking lot or a deputy standing there," said Badalamenti.
Zuchowski’s comments were also the topic of conversation at Thursday night’s NAACP meeting in Ravenna.
Ravenna Resident Sharon Williams was at that meeting. "I think it was a horrible thing to say; I think it's really sad that a person sworn to protect and to serve would say something like that," said Williams. "I'm not scared, but I know there are a lot of people that are.”
Some others we talked to in Ravenna, like friends Jack and David, disagreed, both calling the sheriff's comments a joke.
”A good joke, but I didn’t take it as something serious," said Jack, who did not want to give News 5 his last name.
The chair of Portage County’s Republican Party, Amanda Suffecool, told News 5 that using outside security when providing security is part of the sheriff's budget is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
"So pulling an entire department because of a statement that the sheriff said, that is neither illegal, and I mean, it is his first amendment right," said Suffecool. "And so all of a sudden, it's very reactionary. But fiscally, this is not necessarily a great move.”
Badalamenti said it would cost a little bit more, but you can't put a price tag on public safety. News 5 has been asking for a comment from Zuchowski since Monday, but he has yet to respond.
