An Ohio man said he was asked to help arrest, try, and sentence Gov. Mike DeWine. Under the plan, DeWine's penalty could be exile from the state or execution for his supposed crimes, Cleveland.com reports. An activist opposed to DeWine's handling of the coronavirus pandemic confirmed that she called the Piqua resident to discuss putting DeWine under house arrest but said she didn't mention any specific plan. "He’s a dingbat," Renea Turner said. She said that DeWine should be removed from office for tyranny, per the Journal-News, and that she should take his place. Turner, who ran a write-in campaign against DeWine in the 2018 Republican primary, said the house arrest would be for his own protection. The man, who was not identified, said he told Turner he wouldn't help her and would report the call.
DeWine played down the threat. "We have people in every state who believe that they can take the law into their own hands,” he said. "We have people who believe the government’s illegitimate, and they have every right to go and basically overthrow the government in one form or the other. I think it's incumbent upon all of us to denounce that and say that’s wrong." The FBI has reported similar conspiracies against the governors of Michigan and Virginia. In Ohio, the Highway Patrol has begun an investigation. "The plot did not materialize. The governor was never in danger,” state Rep. John Becker said. "And it’s all because of this hero in Piqua." (Michigan's governor said the violent rhetoric has to stop.)