An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would demand proof of who someone voted for before helping them has apologized and blamed prescription sleep aids for causing of his ‘out of character’ actions.

Lt. John Rodgers, a twenty-year sheriff’s veteran in Clark County, where Jumping field is the provincial capital, made the statements in several posts on Facebook, CBS affiliate WHIO-TV reported. In one post, he reportedly wrote, “I’m sorry. If you support the Democratic Party, I won’t help you.” Another said: “The problem is I know which of you support the Democratic Party and I won’t help you survive the end of days.”

Another message indicated that people would have to “provide proof of who you voted for” if they asked Rodgers for help, the station reported.

The sheriff’s office said Rodgers, who commanded the department’s road patrol, would remain on duty, with a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy.

“I know I can’t apologize enough, and my apology may seem empty, but I will continue to apologize for as long as it takes,” Rodgers said in the statement obtained by WHIO-TV. “I know it will be difficult for the public to trust me, but I will do everything in my power to restore that trust. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and want to ensure that our community always will serve as best as possible.” “I want to assure citizens in our community that I have always treated everyone with dignity and respect, regardless of our differences, and that I will strive to show them that I can do better.”

Clark County has been in the spotlight since Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s expansion false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield ate people’s dogs and cats.

The posts do not reflect the agency’s mission and values, according to a sheriff’s statement.

“It is clear that while these comments are highly inappropriate, they in no way reflect the Clark County Sheriff’s Office’s service to our entire community,” the statement said. “The community has a right to be angry about Lt. Rodgers’ actions and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office at large, will have to work even harder to rebuild the trust of members of our community.”

Rodgers formally responded to the reprimand by writing in a letter in his personnel file that he does not remember writing or deleting the messages. He was alerted to this when a colleague asked if everything was OK, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Rodgers wrote that he didn’t find them on his page when he searched for them and that he first saw them during a meeting with a department official.

Rodgers said he sometimes takes a prescription sleep aid, which can cause him to send “out of character” texts, phone calls or other forms of communication as a side effect. The lieutenant said that as soon as he heard about the messages on Tuesday, he deactivated his Facebook account and stopped taking the medication, the newspaper reported.

“We have been in this fight for the past several months, with the attacks on the Haitian community and other immigrants, and we protect people’s rights and we do not support behavior to the contrary,” said Mike Young, deputy chief of the province . , the newspaper said. “I can’t go back in time and take that post away; the lieutenant made the post and he faced consequences for it.”

Clark isn’t the only Ohio county dealing with controversial statements from law enforcement on social media.

The U.S. Department of Justice said its election monitoring efforts will include Portage County, where a sheriff was charged last month with voter intimidation, to ensure the county complies with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day.

The department’s announcement came after Republican Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses written down so immigrants can be sent to them if the Democrat wins the presidency.