Ohio sheriff fed up with crime stemming from border crisis calls for death penalty renewal

An Ohio sheriff said he supported the renewal of the death penalty for certain crimes as the state is ravaged by nefarious activity stemming from the porous southern border in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, drew a connection between President Biden's border policies and an uptick in mayhem from illegal immigrants, which he said cost his taxpayers $4 million to incarcerate them. 

"I am angry," Jones said, adding he could go "on and on" about the destruction caused by illegal immigrants. "People are fed up, and we want something done. And I don't know that we can stand President Biden being here. And this is just a sample of what he's done. Lord, help us all." 

Over the last three years, Jones said 1,000 illegal immigrants were thrown in his jail for committing 2,000 crimes, many violent in nature.

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Sheriff Richard K. Jones doesn't mince words when it comes to crime in his county. "Am I real soft and fuzzy and cuddly? No, I am not," said Jones. "I do have a dislike for criminals… Don't come to this county because you'll go to prison. You'll go to jail. That's my job."  (Fox News Digital | Hannah Grossman)

"We had one guy that was deported eight times. He was in my jail under eight different names, and that's what we know of," Jones told Fox News Digital. "He's here. He's committed murder while he's here. And we believe that this isn't the first time he's committed murder. And we've had people that have been hit with vehicles killed. We've had people that have been stabbed. So the crime is increasing." 

The sheriff recounted a few incidents that haunted him. One incident was when an illegal immigrant took a 9-year-old off her bicycle and molested her. Another is about a paraplegic who was hit by an illegal immigrant, who fled the scene. 

As for those who say that homegrown citizens also commit crimes, Jones responded, "I don't need any extra crime coming from other countries where they empty their prisons out." 

The sheriff said he is currently teaching his county how to use guns to protect themselves from crime. 

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"What would happen if Biden was reelected? I believe our country is in danger. But I'm not the only one. The government believes that if we continue with this trajectory, that we're all in danger. We are training our civilians here how to protect themselves" he said. 

The Butler sheriff added that he believed President Biden was actively blocking Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from doing their jobs. 

Sources who spoke to Fox News said the first full day after the announcement of President Biden’s executive order on the border had no immediate impact.  (Getty Images)

"They block the federal government," he said. "I am the government, and I'm embarrassed and ashamed of the people that we have in leadership positions. These other countries laugh at us. They look at our president, he can hardly talk."

"I guess when you're president, or you're these people in power, you don't go to the grocery store… I keep my ear to the ground and I talk to people. They're fed up, they're disgusted, and they're scared," Jones added. 

The White House announced last week long-awaited executive actions to stop illegal immigrants at the southern border claiming asylum if crossings reach a certain level – a move coming a few months before the November election. The order will temporarily suspend the entry of non-citizens across the southern border once the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over seven days, officials said.

However, according to sources who spoke to Fox News, the first full day after the announcement of President Biden’s executive order restricting asylum for most illegal immigrants appeared to have no immediate impact on the massive number of migrants coming across the southern border.

Overall, there were roughly 5,600 CBP encounters on Wednesday, which includes the 4,000 illegal crossings and CBP One App releases at ports of entry.

Jones has previously called on state lawmakers to pass legislation allowing law enforcement to file felony charges against anyone in Ohio who is an illegal immigrant, similar to a controversial measure in Texas, according to Fox 19. 

"Our approach here is far from gentle. I'm not a very gentle approach person," he explained about his no-nonsense attitude.

"I believe if you murder somebody, the death penalty. I believe if you molest children or hurt children, the death penalty. I think terrorism, the death penalty. Selling drugs to somebody that dies, the death penalty. And, now I don't get to make those rules," he said. 

Jones was particularly concerned about the drugs trafficked into Ohio. 

"Everybody [in Ohio] knows somebody that's died because of that. And it affects us all. It sends chills down my spine, as I tell you that," the sheriff continued. "It doesn't seem that our president cares about that. He's more concerned with global warming and making us all buy electric cars and get rid of our gas stoves." 

In the last few years, the Ohio attorney general's office seized over 2,000 pounds of meth and over 1,000 pounds of fentanyl.  (Fox News Digital | Hannah Grossman)

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Ohio had the fifth-highest death rate in the nation from drug overdoses, according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 5,144 deaths in 2022 and 5,397 in 2021. 

"I would tell the president first thing: Close the damn borders, get our communities back, let Americans go to work," Jones said. "We got 5,000 people die a year because of these drugs coming in from Mexico." 

In the last few years, the Ohio attorney general's office seized over 2,000 pounds of meth and over 1,000 pounds of fentanyl. Ohio AG Dave Yost's office reported spikes in drugs seized in 2023, particularly with cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms. 

The sheriff said the damage to Ohioans because of his perception that Biden has failed to secure the Southern Border keeps him up at night. 

"The people that come see me, that their loved ones have been killed by illegals either behind the wheel, intoxicated, or have died of overdose from the drugs coming from the border… I lose sleep over that," Jones told Fox News Digital. 

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As for those who may think the sheriff is politically incorrect, he explained that it's his job to tell it like it is and to unabashedly incarcerate criminals. 

"Am I real soft and fuzzy and cuddly? No, I am not," said Jones. "I do have a dislike for criminals… Don't come to this county because you'll go to prison. You'll go to jail. That's my job." 

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.