Patrick Havas, 38, was arrested after rushing toward Democratic Ohio governor candidate Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair on Sunday, forcing his way through a crowd and knocking over multiple fairgoers before being stopped by law enforcement.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Havas was carrying two pistols and a Taser when he charged toward Acton at the Mahoning County Democratic Party tent around 2:30 p.m. The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office recovered the two handguns and a set of brass knuckles, but authorities said no weapons were brandished or removed from their holsters during the incident.
Multiple people at the fair were injured as Havas pushed through the crowd. Acton’s security detail, which included Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, confronted Havas and he was arrested by Canfield Fair police. Acton herself was not harmed.
Havas was booked into the Mahoning County Jail on two counts of assault and one count of disorderly conduct. He is being held without bond. As of Sunday evening, authorities had not publicly disclosed a motive for the incident, and it was unclear whether Havas had retained an attorney.
The incident drew swift condemnation from state officials. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that Havas “tried to forcefully push himself” toward Acton, adding that “violence or the threat of violence at political or public events is always unacceptable.” Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted said he and his wife were “disturbed by the attempted attack” and expressed gratitude for law enforcement’s response.
Havas is a registered Republican. Voter records and news reports identified him as the brother of Andrew Havas, a Republican lobbyist who donated more than $10,102 to Vivek Ramaswamy's gubernatorial campaign across five contributions. However, authorities have not established any connection between the family relationship and the incident.
Acton, a physician and Ohio’s former state health director, is competing in one of the nation’s most closely watched gubernatorial races. She faces Ramaswamy, a Trump-endorsed entrepreneur and former 2024 presidential candidate, in the November 3 general election. Recent polling has shown the race to be highly competitive, with both candidates recording strong fundraising numbers.
Ramaswamy’s campaign issued a statement calling the incident unacceptable. “Candidates should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence,” campaign communications director Connie Luck said. Acton’s campaign said the candidate “will always stand up to the chaos, hate and vitriol that pits us against one another.”
The attack adds to a broader pattern of political violence in the United States. From January 2025 through June 2025, there were 96 deaths and 329 injuries linked to terrorism and targeted violence, according to security analysts. High-profile incidents in recent years have included the 2017 shooting at a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia; the 2022 hammer assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and multiple assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump in 2024 and 2026.
Federal political committees spent more than $40 million on security expenses during the 2023-24 campaign cycle, the most recent period for which data is publicly available, according to the Public Service Alliance, a nonpartisan group focused on security for public officials.
Sources
- PBS News — core details of the incident, Havas’s age and charges, weapons recovered, statement from Gov. DeWine
- Cleveland.com — Havas’s charges, Mahoning County Jail booking, incident details
- WKYC — assault charges, disorderly conduct charge, jail information
- Tiffin Ohio — Havas’s Republican voter registration, brother Andrew Havas’s donations to Ramaswamy campaign
- NBC News — Ohio governor race context, Ramaswamy and Acton candidacy
- Health Journalism — political violence statistics from January-June 2025
- Public Service Alliance — campaign security spending data from 2023-24 cycle
