Cop in Ohio County at Center of Trump's Falsehoods About Pets Says He Won't Help Democratic Voters in Need

A sheriff’s lieutenant in the Ohio county at the center of Donald Trump’s false claims about Haitian immigrants allegedly wrote several Facebook posts saying he wouldn’t help people in distress if they voted for Democrats.

Lieutenant John Rodgers at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office reportedly wrote in a Facebook post on Oct. 20: “I am sorry. If you support the Democratic party I will not help you,” WHIO reports. 

His account did not show up during a Facebook search by PEOPLE on Monday, Nov. 4. 

In two other posts, the dates of which were unavailable in screenshots shared by WHIO, Rodgers made similar comments, even saying he would not help a Democrat “survive the end of days.”

“The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days,” he wrote in one post, WHIO reports. 

Another screenshot shows him claiming he would require “proof” from people about who they voted for. 

“At the end of the day I will require you to provide proof of who you voted for if you ask me for help,” he wrote. “Weapons and ammo are not cheap.” 

Rodgers has since apologized for the remarks, saying they were “out of character” and attributing them to sleep medication, the Associated Press reports.

His comments came weeks after Springfield, which is the seat of Clark County, was the center of false claims by Trump alleging that Haitian immigrants in the city were eating people’s pets. The claims were debunked by Springfield city officials who said there was no credible evidence of such occurrences in the city. 

The rumors allegedly led to bomb threats at school and city buildings that were allegedly motivated by Trump’s claims, USA Today reported at the time.

After Rodgers’ Facebook posts were uncovered, the sheriff’s office said in a statement that they were “inappropriate” and do not reflect the sheriff department’s sentiments. 

“It is understood that while these comments are highly inappropriate, they in no means reflect the Clark County Sheriff’s Office delivery of service to ALL our community,” the statement said, per WHIO, the Associated Press and CBS News.

“The community has a right to be upset over the actions of Lt. Rodgers and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office in general, will have to work even harder to replenish the trust of members of our community,” the statement said. 

He was not put on leave but received a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy, the sheriff’s department said, per the outlets.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

In response to the reprimand, Rodgers reportedly claimed he was not aware of the posts on his Facebook page and couldn’t find them on his page after a co-worker alerted him to them, per the Springfield News-Sun.

He reportedly claimed that he takes sleeping medication that cause him to act “out of character,” per the Springfield News-Sun and WHIO.

He said he had deactivated his Facebook account after the posts came to light, per the Springfield News-Sun.

The Clark County sheriff’s office did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comments.