An armed man pushed his way toward Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair on Sunday, injuring two bystanders before Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers assigned to Acton’s security detail confronted him, according to the campaign and law enforcement.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. at the Mahoning County Democratic Party’s tent at the fairgrounds in Canfield, a suburb of Youngstown, according to multiple news outlets that cited the campaign and police. The suspect, identified by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office as 38-year-old Patrick Havas of Canfield, approached the tent while recording video on his cellphone, then began pushing through the crowd as he moved toward Acton, the campaign said.
Two Injured, Suspect Detained
Acton’s security detail confronted Havas as he neared her, and two people described as older adults were knocked to the ground during the confrontation, according to law enforcement. Acton, a physician who led Ohio’s public health response during the early COVID-19 pandemic, was not injured and stayed on scene to help attend to one of the injured bystanders, the campaign said.
Investigators said Havas was carrying two handguns, a set of brass knuckles and a Taser at the time of the confrontation, but that he did not brandish or remove any of the weapons from their holsters. He was arrested at the scene by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office.
Charges Filed
Havas has been booked into the Mahoning County Jail and faces two counts of assault and one count of disorderly conduct, according to police. He was being held without bond as of Monday, according to local reporting.
A High-Profile Moment in the Governor’s Race
Acton, who served as director of the Ohio Department of Health under Gov. Mike DeWine and became a prominent public face of the state’s pandemic response in 2020, entered the 2026 governor’s race as a Democrat. The Canfield Fair is one of the largest county fairs in Ohio and a traditional campaign stop for candidates courting voters in the Mahoning Valley, a region both parties have contested in recent statewide races.
The campaign has not said whether Sunday’s incident will change how Acton’s security detail operates at public events going forward. Neither the campaign nor investigators have released additional information about a possible motive, and no further charges had been announced as of this writing.
Sources: Fox News · NBC News · CNN · The Washington Post · The Vindicator
