Ohio sheriff asks residents to ‘take down’ addresses of Harris supporters to provide migrant housing

According to a social media post by the sheriff, he ordered residents to write down the addresses of homeowners who had put up signs in front of their homes supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.

Portage County Sheriff Bruce D. Zuchowski shared a Facebook post on September 13 regarding the Harris campaign and its border policy.

“When people ask me… What happens if Flip-Flopping, Laughing Hyena wins?? I say… write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards,” Zuchowski wrote in a Facebook post. “So… when the illegal human “Locusts” (which she supports!) need a place to live… we’ll already have the addresses of their new families… who supported their arrival!”

The sheriff’s social media post is accompanied by screenshots of Fox News reports from Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio. Both Aurora and Springfield have drawn national attention after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, said migrants were committing dangerous acts in the cities — including taking over apartment complexes and kidnapping and eating pets.

USA TODAY reached out to Zuchowski and the Portage County Sheriff’s Office on Monday but did not receive a response.

What did Trump and Vance say about Springfield and Aurora?

Over the past few weeks, Trump and Vance have told stories about migrants in Aurora and Springfield during the campaign, many of which have been debunked by local officials. The former president mentioned both cities during a presidential debate on ABC last week.

“In Springfield, they’re eating dogs, people who came in,” Trump said of Haitian migrants in Springfield during a debate that drew more than 67 million viewers. “They’re eating cats. They’re eating pets of people who live there. This is happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

At the beginning of the debate, Trump said, “Look at Aurora, Colorado. They’re taking over cities.” In Aurora, members of a Venezuelan prison gang called Tren de Aragua (TdA) were arrested and charged with various crimes after rumors that they were taking over a local apartment complex and forcing tenants to pay rent.

Vance also spoke out about both cities and called for action along the border.

Springfield and Aurora officials denounce rumors

The authorities of both cities condemned these rumors and categorically denied that they had anything to do with truth.

In a video posted on Facebook, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck addressed the rumors.

“It’s disappointing that part of the narrative surrounding our city has been distorted by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric in this highly charged presidential election cycle,” Heck said in a video posted Sept. 11. “These rumors will not distract us from addressing the real strain on our resources.”

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Councilwoman and Public Safety Chair Danielle Jurinsky issued a statement last week following the TdA arrests and Trump’s comments.

“TdA has not ‘taken over’ the city,” the statement read. “The exaggerated claims fueled by social media and select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties that the city has been dealing with in various ways for months.”

“The American media completely ignored this case”

Vance defended the rumors in an interview with CNN over the weekend, explaining that exploiting the stories was a clever way to grab Americans’ attention during the election season.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, journalist Dana Bash asked the vice presidential candidate why Trump didn’t discuss politics during the debate and instead simply said, “Haitians eat dogs and cats.”

“Can you now say that this is a rumor that has no basis in evidence?” Bash asked.

Vance told Bash that his evidence was based on first-hand accounts of his constituents who told him this was happening.

“The American media completely ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” he said. “If I have to create stories to make the American media actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris go with the flow.”

Bash noted that Vance simply said he was making history, to which the senator replied, “Yes.”

“We are creating — we are — Dana, this is coming from first-hand accounts from my constituents,” Vance said. “I say we are creating history, which means we are creating the American media’s focus on it. I did not create 20,000 illegal immigrants coming to Springfield because of Kamala Harris’ policies. Her policies did that, but yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this history and the suffering that Kamala Harris’ policies caused.”

Collaboration: Erin Couch/Cincinnati Enquirer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Portage County Sheriff: ‘Write down addresses’ of Harris supporters