Report from the Front Line: Stunning Lawlessness in Ohio
How Vance and Trump’s Lies Spill Over to Other Communities
Even JD Vance admitted he “created” his racist lie in Springfield. Governor DeWine said it wasn’t true. So did the Mayor. So have other officials.
The press has debunked it all, including the woman who originally posted a story about a missing pet saying she regretted doing so.
And Catholic bishops in Ohio have spoken out against the lies and hate.
But you know the saying from Mark Twain: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Sadly, that’s just what happened with the Vance and Trump lie.
In fact, it’s since spread around the country. And far too many still believe it.
And in case people think these lies are just political noise and talk, or that the danger and the damage occur only in Springfield (and that community has suffered ever since their own Senator kicked all this off, with those local officials begging Vance and Trump to stop), think again.
In Portage County, the lie prompted a sitting Sheriff to ask his followers to write down and report the names of people with Harris/Walt signs. Ohio’s Secretary of State made this even worse by refusing to meet with voter advocates concerned about voter intimidation.
And on a visit yesterday just down the road from Springfield, I learned of the most disturbing response yet—by another sheriff and the sitting president of a county board of elections of an Ohio county.
Warning: You will be deeply disturbed by what I describe.
Sidney, Ohio — the Truth
Just 32 miles from Springfield sits Sidney, Ohio.
Last week, in response to Springfield, the leaders of Sidney were asked about the impact of migrants on their community. Like Governor DeWine, and like the leaders in Springfield, these local leaders assured folks that there were no issues to be concerned about:
“state and local officials have said there has been an outpouring of misinformation about migrants and immigrants….
According to Sidney city manager Andrew Bowsher, the population of migrant workers in Sidney is very small.
‘We don’t have an approximate number, just because there’s really no tracking purposes.’ Bowsher said. ‘So as far as we are fully aware the Haitians that are here within the state and just in general in the country, are here legally. They’re asylum and seeking from the federal government, and those were extended under the Biden administration, and obviously they are moving into communities that they see fit.
‘As far as we’re aware, it’s a very small number, less than 25 and I use that number very loosely, definitely, because we definitely don’t have a specific count….’
….
Mayor Mike Barhorst sent the Sidney Daily News an email exchange he had with a resident of Sidney about their concerns. In this email, he said he did not believe there should be any cause for concern with any migrant population in Sidney.”
OK.
So that’s the report from the ground. From actual officials. The facts. The truth. No cause for concern.
But the Truth Doesn’t Stop the Lies
But as clear as they may be, those facts do not stop the Trump/Vance lie from spreading in the same town. And those lies have quickly fueled utterly lawless rhetoric (and potentially lawless actions?).
Sidney is located in Shelby County.
And despite the assurance by actual officials, the “Shelby County Republican Party posted on its Facebook page [that] local elected officials would speak about “Springfield’s (and our) Haitian immigrant crisis.””
At the meeting, which took place only two days after the comments above ran in the local paper, the conversation went in a disturbingly different direction. According to that same local newspaper, the County Sheriff, named Jim Frye, told those gathered that:
“‘I don’t have all the answers. I’m not an expert on this, but what I can tell you is what I know.’ Frye said.
He brought up a friend of his who works for ICE who told Frye ‘Don’t trust them. They’re bad. They’re bad people.’
“I told Chief Mark (McDonough) who is the Sidney chief, I said you guys go out there, get a hold of these people and arrest them. Bring them. I’ll figure out if they’re legal,” Frye said.
“President Trump did not lie at that debate when he said the Haitians are eating cats. If you want, I can show you body cam footage. It wasn’t in Springfield, it was in Canton, where they caught a lady standing over a cat, had skinned it and was eating it without cooking it. They found her with cat hair in her mouth,” Frye said.
“Is she Haitian?” a crowd member asked.
“I believe so,” Frye said.
The (Canton) Repository published an article on Sept. 10 which reported the woman who was recorded by police body camera footage in the Aug. 16 incident with the cat is an Ohio native. She was charged with cruelty to companion animals.
After [Shelby County Commissioner] Ehemann and Frye shared the information they had, the floor was opened to questions from the people in attendance.
Questions ranged from asking for clarification on the definition of TPS to asking if any immigrants or migrants would be able to vote in the upcoming election.
One person asked how the immigrants get to Sidney and someone in the audience mentioned “unmarked vans.” [Shelby County Republican Party chairman and the president of the County Board of Elections Dan] Cecil encouraged people in attendance to get video footage of these vans and report them to the police.
“I have heard stories of a white van coming in and dropping off eight or 10 people then driving away through traffic like a madman. If you can catch video of that, please get it, get it to the Sheriff, get it to the police department, somebody who can do something about it,” Cecil said.
The conversation made a shift from the Haitian people themselves to how people in this community can make change. Cecil, who is also head of the Board of Elections, encouraged everyone to vote, make sure to be registered to vote, and get others who aren’t registered to do so.
“The enemy in this situation is the federal government, and we need to find ways to take the fight to the federal government, as opposed to the people on the ground,” Cecil said.”
So…look back at the sum total of those comments:
in a blanket statement, the sitting Sheriff of an Ohio county characterizes Haitian migrants as “bad people.” “Don’t trust them. They’re bad.”
he repeats Trump’s and Vance’s debunked lie that Haitian migrants are eating pets — telling the crowd that “President Trump did not lie at the debate,” and misstating even the facts about Canton
he said he’s told the police chief to “get ahold of these people and arrest them” (no indication that anyone’s done anything illegal)
then he said he’ll “figure out” if they’re “legal” (ie. they get arrested first, then the Sheriff looks into them)
and then before declaring that the federal government is the “enemy,” the sitting president of the county board of elections urges attendees to videotape vehicles with “migrants” and to call the sheriff and/or police “who can do something about it.”
One other relevant fact: for the upcoming election, the county’s board of elections has requested that the sheriff’s office establish a presence at voting precincts in the county (with the presence of Sheriff vehicles).
Needless to say, the lawlessness described in these two stories is alarming. Jim Crow in both mindset and effect. Like a sundown town, but during the day too.
The intimidation of voters of color generally, and at the polls in particular, real as hell.
To say the least, this demands an outside investigation.
Lawlessness, and reckless talk of illegal actions by law enforcement, cannot be tolerated.
And once again, it underscores what a disgrace Ohio’s senator is.
There’s got to be something people from outside Ohio can do to show support. This is unbearable. And where is DOJ?
People with those racist/hate should not be in positions of sheriff/police/board of elections!! So disgusting!!
We’ve have turned the clock back to Nazi Germany 1930’s!
Can’t the DOJ do something about this increasing fear mongering??