The report of an assassination attempt against candidate for governor, Amy Acton, is untrue. The accused didn’t plan to assassinate her. Her campaign said he lunged at her. How close was he? We don’t know. It’s only a lunge if he was close.
BREAKING > There has been an assassination attempt against Amy Acton, candidate for Ohio governor. Several people have been injured. https://t.co/nDdGGIVeXo
— The Cincinnati News (@CincinnatiNews_) September 6, 2026
We can all agree he shouldn’t have charged through the crowd, knocking people over. After that, it looks like a nothingburger.
The BBC report:
The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which was working to protect Acton, told the BBC in a statement that its team had stopped the suspect before he reached Acton during Ohio’s annual Canfield Fair.
According to the BBC, the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Patrick Havas, was carrying two pistols at the time of his arrest. You can carry guns in Ohio. The guns were holstered, and he never touched them.
Havas allegedly moved aggressively toward her, holding up a cell phone. He was allegedly shoving his way through the crowd and reportedly knocked over two people on mobility scooters, or they fell. He said he wanted to ask questions.
According to the New York Times, “Law enforcement officials stated there was no assassination attempt on Amy Acton. The local sheriff reported the suspect aggressively pushed through a crowd to ask questions, knocking over two audience members, and faced misdemeanor assault charges.”
Havas is being held at the county jail and faces two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct.
There are no photos or videos to show how close he was to Acton or what it looked like. We don’t know whether the two workers in mobility vehicles fell or were pushed. However, the two misdemeanor assault counts are for the people on the scooters who fell as Havas charged through.
CBS News’s early reporting:
An armed assailant lunged at the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, on Sunday during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair, injuring several people, campaign officials said.
The suspect knocked volunteers to the ground and was arrested with “multiple weapons,” Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said in a statement.
Acton was not injured, but campaign officials said multiple people were hurt. Acton’s security detail was able to stop the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Patrick Havas, and take him into custody until law enforcement arrived, the sheriff said.
However, CBS reported the following later in the article. “Authorities say he aggressively shoved his way through the crowd toward Acton while holding a cell phone up.”
The media reported hysterically.
🚨 JUST IN UPDATE: Amy Acton is now being accused of GROSSLY exaggerating a so-called “attack” at an Ohio fair yesterday after she was seen possibly drunk and slurring her words before the “incident”
The suspect has only been charged with assault and disorderly conduct, police… https://t.co/TtwBgWTtpu pic.twitter.com/ObhMKNqM5Y
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 7, 2026
Listen to her scream her way to the governor’s mansion:
This is not normal. This is Worse that Kamala https://t.co/2OfAcoqmWo
— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) September 7, 2026
Complete wasted all the time. Kamala 2.0 https://t.co/mqRKTpiYTF
— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) September 7, 2026