Armed man lunges at Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair; two older attendees are hurt

An armed man pushed through a crowded tent at the Canfield Fair on Sunday and lunged toward Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio. Acton was not injured. At least two people near her were knocked down. The Mahoning County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect as Patrick Havas, 38, of Canfield, and said the incident began about 2.30 p.m. on 6 September.

Acton, a physician and former state health director, was speaking at the Mahoning County Democratic Party booth. Sheriff's spokesman Gerry Ricciutti said Havas entered the tent recording on a mobile phone and started forcing his way through the crowd. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on her security detail stopped him. Canfield Fair officers made the arrest.

Investigators said they recovered two handguns and a set of brass knuckles. The Highway Patrol separately said a Taser was found. The sheriff's office said no weapon was drawn or taken from a holster during the rush. Havas was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Who was hurt

Wayne Penny Jr., an Ohio Democrat at the booth, told local television that Havas knocked volunteers down and pushed an older man with Parkinson's off a mobility scooter. The man hit his head. A second older person on a scooter was also toppled. The full medical list had not been released by Monday afternoon.

Campaign spokeswoman Addie Bullock said Acton and her husband, Eric, were grateful for the speed of the officers and were praying for those who were injured. A photograph shared with NBC News showed Acton still on site attending to one of the hurt. Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican whose term is ending, said he and his wife Fran had spoken to Acton and that she asked him to tell Ohioans she was all right.

Acton faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in November. Ramaswamy called the Sunday incident unacceptable. DeWine's Highway Patrol detail is assigned to Acton because she is a statewide candidate, not because of any prior threat announced by the campaign.

What the charge sheet does not yet say

The public file as of Monday describes a rush, not a shooting. That is why the weapons inventory matters and also why it is incomplete as a motive statement. Havas has not been described by prosecutors as tied to a campaign or an organized group. The phone in his hand is the detail several witnesses repeated. He was recording as he moved.

Canfield Fair is a late-summer fixture in Mahoning County, a suburb of Youngstown. Candidates work the tents because the crowd is local and not filtered by a ticketed rally. That is also why a single person can close the distance quickly. The troopers were inside the same tent. The time from entry to arrest was measured in seconds, according to the sheriff's account.

Ohio's governor's race was already national. Sunday added a security file to a contest that had been about public health records, Trump and jobs. The legal case will turn on what Havas intended and what the recovered weapons prove. The political case will turn on how both campaigns talk about a fairground crowd that now includes two older people who were knocked to the ground.