A man came forward to police last week saying he was recently recruited to help kidnap the Ohio Governor.
The Ohio Capital Journal reports that a Piqua Police Department report from Oct. 16 says a citizen told an officer about being called earlier that morning by an outspoken critic of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. The caller reportedly asked if they wanted to take part in an attempt to arrest the governor at his home later that weekend and try him for allegations of tyranny.
The person who reported the call told this the Journal in an interview that the plot stemmed from anger toward the governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The person said they too are a critic of DeWine and claimed to have recently filed a citizen affidavit seeking criminal charges against the governor, according to the Journal.
The Piqua Police Department reportedly turned over the report to the Ohio Highway Patrol, who handles executive security for the governor and his family. The Highway Patrol would not comment to the Journal if there was an active investigation.
This is the latest in a series of plots targeting political leaders in 2020 for their responses to the pandemic. In Michigan, state and federal law enforcement foiled a plot to kidnap and try Gov. Whitmer, with seven of the men being charged under the state’s anti-terrorism law.
Police in that case have alleged the Whitmer plot was hatched in a meeting held in Dublin, Ohio this summer. The same group of men also hoped to target Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
There is no known connection between these plots and the one reported in Piqua.