A Man With Two Pistols and Brass Knuckles Bull-Rushed Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair

An armed man charged through a crowd toward Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio, at the Canfield Fair on Sunday, injuring several people before he was tackled and arrested, the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies identified the man as Patrick Havas, 38, of Canfield. Sheriff Jerry Greene said Havas "aggressively shoved his way through the crowd toward Acton" at the fairgrounds, a sprawling late-summer event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to northeastern Ohio every year and is a fixture on the state's campaign calendar.

Acton was not hurt. Others were. Greene said Havas knocked over two older people riding mobility scooters, one of whom fell to the ground, and struck a campaign volunteer with Parkinson's disease who fell and hit his head. Wayne Penny Jr., a Democratic candidate who was there, said Havas "literally bull-rushed through the crowd, knocked our volunteers down."

When deputies searched him, they found two pistols and a set of brass knuckles. All three are legal to carry in Ohio, which does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and Havas was not charged over the weapons. He faces two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct.

Acton’s campaign said in a statement that "violence has no place in Ohio." Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican who is term-limited and whose seat Acton is running for, said that "violence or the threat of violence at political events is always unacceptable." Vivek Ramaswamy, Acton's Republican opponent, called the incident "completely unacceptable."

Acton, a physician, ran the Ohio Department of Health during the first year of the pandemic and became one of the most recognizable state officials in the country before resigning in June 2020 after months of protests, including armed demonstrations outside her home. That history has shadowed her campaign, which she launched in 2025 and which has centered on health care costs and inflation. She won the Democratic primary in May.

The race is one of the most closely watched governor's contests of the midterm cycle. Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, has Trump's endorsement, and Ohio has drifted steadily Republican in statewide races over the past decade. Public polling has consistently shown Ramaswamy ahead, though Democrats argue the margin has narrowed as premiums and grocery prices dominate the campaign.

Sunday's incident lands in a year in which candidates and election officials across the country have reported a rising volume of threats. Federal prosecutors have brought charges in several states over threats to election workers, and both parties have increased security spending for public events. Acton's campaign said she would continue her scheduled appearances this week.