Washington Post · Olivia George, Ben Binday · September 8, 2026
A man accused of forcing his way through a crowd toward the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor while carrying two pistols appeared in court Tuesday, two days after the confrontation at a county fair.
Patrick M. Havas, 38, pleaded not guilty to one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, two misdemeanor counts of assault and one count of inducing panic.
The candidate, Amy Acton, was giving a speech inside the Mahoning County Democratic Party's tent at the Canfield Fair in northeastern Ohio on Sunday afternoon when Havas pushed through the crowd while recording with his phone, authorities said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers assigned to Acton's security detail intercepted Havas, who was taken into custody. Acton was not injured, but two elderly people were knocked to the ground and treated at the scene, according to a police report.
Authorities said Havas was carrying two pistols and a Taser, although he did not display any of the weapons. Ohio laws generally allow residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit.
Havas's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A motive remained unclear Tuesday, with Gerry Ricciutti, a spokesperson for the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office, saying when asked: "I cannot speak to that at all at this point."
The incident comes at a time when politics is increasingly unfolding against a backdrop of threats. This time the worry of violence came during a competitive race to lead Ohio -- a state that has three times voted to send President Donald Trump to the White House.
Authorities are continuing to search Havas's phone, Ricciutti said.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn A. Maro said Tuesday that the only known video of the encounter was recorded on Havas's phone, according to local reports. She said that it showed him moving through the crowd and calling Acton's name before a member of her security detail approached him, but that he never came close to the candidate.
Havas consented to a search of his phone, Maro said in a brief news conference after the arraignment, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. A keyword search turned up no evidence of threats or an obsession with Acton on the phone, she added.
Mike Ray, a Democratic city council member from Youngstown, Ohio, said he was in the tent during the incident and saw an individual being pulled away, repeatedly calling out "Dr. Acton."
"The individual's behavior was rowdy enough, and he was aggressive enough, to make her security detail react," Ray said.
On Sunday, Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene told the New York Times: "I think it was to ask her a couple of questions. He was just, you know, pretty aggressive about it."
The sheriff has endorsed Acton's Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy.
Meanwhile, right-wing activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer alleged without evidence on social media that the incident had been staged or exaggerated. Loomer repeatedly called Acton "Amy Smollett," a reference to the actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted in 2021 after prosecutors accused him of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself and lying to police. The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2024 on procedural grounds.
Photos from the county fair show Havas wearing an all-black outfit and a hat reading "Honor" and "Respect." He was handcuffed and detained on a bench outside the tent, according to witnesses. People in the tent were "just kind of in shock," said Ray.
Acton, whom Ray described as "rattled," checked on the elderly duo who were knocked to the ground before briefly finishing her speech and being whisked away.
Upon his arrest, Havas "said that he wanted to tell his side of the story," according to a police report reviewed by The Washington Post. But after officers read him his rights, he declined to make a statement.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol and the county sheriff's office are investigating the incident. Efforts to reach Havas's family members were unsuccessful.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) assigned state troopers to protect Acton and Ramaswamy after they won their parties' primary elections this year, according to the Plain Dealer -- a move that the Ohio State Highway Patrol described as "standard practice," though both candidates long faced security concerns.
In the last decade, federal campaigns and committees have spent more than $100 million on security, "with security spending in the 2023-24 cycle at over five times what it was in the 2015-16 cycle," according to Public Service Alliance, a nonpartisan group that focuses on security for public officials.
Ramaswamy, a billionaire entrepreneur and Hindu son of Indian immigrants, received death threats while running for president in 2023. This year, he confronted racist taunts during the Republican gubernatorial primary, which morphed into one front in a broader GOP debate over extremism and who belongs in the party's tent.
Acton, meanwhile, faced protests outside her suburban Columbus home while serving as Ohio's health director during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic; some demonstrators were armed.
"Violence or the threat of violence at political or public events is always unacceptable," DeWine wrote in a social media post after the incident at the county fair.
Ramaswamy also issued a statement disavowing political violence and later advocated for the importance of "vigorous debate" in civil society. "That's the way we demonstrate who we are as leaders, and it's up to us to set that example for the rest of the state and I hope the rest of the country," he said.
Acton's campaign, however, has accused him and his allies of amplifying conspiracy theories online about the incident at the fair.
"Vivek Ramaswamy needs to condemn these malicious lies immediately," David Pepper, Acton's running mate, said in a statement.
A day after the incident, Acton was back on the campaign trail, walking in Cleveland's annual Labor Day parade, thanking first responders and snapping selfies with supporters.
"The number one thing I am fighting for is our common humanity," she told a clapping crowd, recounting conversations she'd had with people across the political spectrum.
"They're exhausted of the hate and the chaos and the vitriol," she said, "and the purposely being pitted against one another."
Sammy Westfall contributed to this report.