There was an incident at an Ohio county fair while the Democrat gubenatorial candidate was speaking to the crowd.

Amy Acton, who is running against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to be the next governor of Ohio, appears to have been the target of an armed man who tried rushing toward her during an event at the Canfield Fair.

Troopers assigned to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s executive protection unit intercepted Patrick M. Havas, 38, during the Sept. 6 incident, according to a statement provided by the Ohio Department of Public Safety to Fox News Digital.

“Havas knocked multiple fairgoers over while trying to get towards Dr. Acton, and was found to be in possession of a taser and two pistols,” the highway patrol said. “Dr. Acton was unharmed during the incident.”

Havas was turned over first to Canfield Fair Police and then to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office before being taken to the county jail, according to the statement.

He was booked on two counts of assault and one count of disorderly conduct. A jail record listed Havas as being held in pretrial custody.

The highway patrol and sheriff’s office are investigating what led to the confrontation. No additional details were immediately available.

As of right now, there has been no released motive. However, the memo seems to have gone out. Politicians across the board, from Ohio and beyond, agree that political violence is bad.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he spoke with Acton Sunday afternoon following the incident.

“Fran and I are thankful Dr. Amy Acton was not hurt, and we send our thoughts to those who were injured,” DeWine posted to X. “We spoke to Dr. Acton this afternoon and she said to share with Ohioans that she is ok.”

Acton will face GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy in the November contest to replace DeWine. Ramaswamy’s team released a statement condemning the attack as “completely unacceptable.”

“Candidates should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence,” the Ramaswamy campaign communications director Connie Luck said. “What happened today is completely unacceptable and has no place in politics, and we hope that no one was hurt.

I am relieved to hear Ohio Governor candidate @amyactonoh is safe following an incident with an armed individual at a campaign event. I thank law enforcement for its quick response and am hoping for a full and speedy recovery for those who were injured. Political campaigns are a… pic.twitter.com/082QyuONyV

— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) September 7, 2026

I’m relieved Dr. Acton is safe and keeping those who were injured at the Canfield Fair in my prayers.

Violence like this has no place in our politics. https://t.co/5qr5CQ71ru

— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) September 6, 2026

Okay, good. Looks like we’re all in agreement that political violence is a bad thing.

And it’s a bad thing when Minnesota Democrats are assassinated or badly injured.

And it’s a bad thing when there are multiple assassination attempts against Donald Trump.

And it’s a bad thing when Congressional Republicans are shot at and Steve Scalise is badly wounded at baseball practice.

And it’s a bad thing when Charlie Kirk is assassinated.

And it’s a bad thing when there is an assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

And it’s a bad thing when Justice Brett Kavanaugh is targeted by an assassin who then gets a lighter sentence because he’s transgender.

So, is the latest example of political violence? Well, according to the media, no weapons were drawn. In fact, the only thing Havas had in his hands was his cell phone while he was knocking people over.

The suspect, identified as Patrick Havas, 38, of Canfield, Ohio, “aggressively shoved his way through the crowd toward Acton while holding a cell phone up,” Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene told CBS News. While he was rushing forward, Havas allegedly knocked over two older people on mobility scooters, causing one of them to fall to the ground, Greene said.

Acton’s security detail, made up of Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, was able to stop him and take him into custody, the sheriff said.

The man had two pistols and brass knuckles on him, according to Greene, all of which are legal to carry in Ohio.

Wayne Penny Jr., a Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 59th State House District, told CBS News that hecklers had gathered at the Democratic Party’s tent when one of them “bum-rushed through the crowd” in Acton’s direction.

“He literally bull-rushed through the crowd, knocked our volunteers down, ran through, pushed and knocked the elderly gentleman over with Parkinson’s, and the gentleman hit his head and fell,” Penny said.

Now, no motive has officially been released as of yet, though there is apparently a connection between Patrick Havas and someone that Amy Acton had called out publicly months ago.

Ohioans deserve leaders who exercise good judgment and who put integrity first.

Which is why I find it appalling that Vivek Ramaswamy accepted over $10,000 from Andrew Havas, a man who served jail time following allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor.

— Dr. Amy Acton (@amyactonoh) July 14, 2026

The connection that is flying around X says that Patrick is the brother of Andrew. The sexual misconduct case was brought in 2008, and Andrew Havas pled guilty in 2009. The donations to Vivek Ramaswamy were in 2025. Andrew Havas was asked to resign from a volunteer position in Ohio Senator Jon Husted’s campaign earlier this year. Acton’s comments were meant to use Andrew Havas’s actions and legal donations as a club against Vivek Ramaswamy. Did Patrick Havas decide to confront Acton at the Canfield Fair about her comments regarding his brother? Asking questions while filming the candidate is one thing, but knocking over people to get to the candidate is another. It appears that he was legally armed, but his actions definitely open up a lot of questions about why he would choose to be armed while doing this.

If this was a politically motivated action, then I have zero issue throwing the book at Patrick Havas.

Bury him/her under the jail and do it publicly for all to see.

As I’ve said a bunch of times before when it’s been Republicans targeted, it’s a threat to the republic itself and needs to be punished as such. https://t.co/F7jTNxbqdS

— Sunny (@sunnyright) September 6, 2026

The question is, WAS this politically motivated? At this point, we have no confirmation of that. We’re going to have to wait and see if law enforcement are able to confirm the connection, and if that was a motivating factor in what happened at this Ohio county fair.

Featured image: state flag of Ohio via Jeff Kubina on Wikimedia Commons, cropped, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)