CANFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An armed man accused of charging toward Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton during a campaign stop at a fair was trying to ask the Democrat questions, a prosecutor said during the man’s arraignment Tuesday. No one has publicly said what 38-year-old Patrick Havas wanted to ask Acton, but authorities have said he never brandished or unholstered the weapons he had on him and they haven’t found any threats in a search of his cellphone. As he charged toward Acton, authorities said, he knocked down two people before troopers stopped him.Havas pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of inducing panic. His bond was set at $5,000. He was arrested after authorities said he knocked people down while forcing his way through a crowd Sunday as Acton spoke under a tent at the fair in Canfield in northeastern Ohio. Authorities said he had two handguns, a taser and a set of brass knuckles.
“He appeared in that tent wanting to ask questions,” Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro told the judge during the hearing. “You should know law enforcement gained consent for them to have complete access to his cellphone so they found no threats.”Maro said after the hearing that the video Havas took shows him “walking into the tent recording and moving forward, calling out her name.” Acton, a physician, is the state’s former public health director.
