A Republican activist plotted to kidnap Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and try him for “tyranny,” according to a police report.
A resident of Miami County, Ohio, told police he was contacted by Renea Turner, a Republican who ran in 2018 as a write-in candidate against DeWine, about the alleged scheme. The full details of the plot are not currently known, and the case has been referred to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
During a press conference about allocating CARES Act funds on Friday, DeWine said he was unaware of the alleged plot.
“But look, we have people in every state who believe that they can take the law into their own hands,” DeWine 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.”
Prior to the police report being filed, a state representative met with Turner, who asked the representative about the governor’s home, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.
Turner told Cleveland.com that she “talked to the man about the idea of placing the governor under house arrest but denied that she discussed any specific plans to do so.”
“He’s a dingbat,” Turner said of the Ohioan who filed the police report.
Turner revealed that the Highway Patrol came to her house on Friday “to check out my temperament and what my plans are.”
Before details of the alleged plot emerged, Turner went to the state capitol to hold a “swearing-in” ceremony. During the ceremony, she presented a notarized oath of office and claimed to be the legitimate governor of Ohio. “Gov. Mike DeWine has become concentrated, grown, and has become a tyrant and will be held accountable immediately. He will receive a tyrant’s punishment,” Turner said in a Facebook post.
Turner’s alleged plot was the fulmination of criticism toward DeWine regarding statewide policies and restrictions he put in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. A “vocal minority of Ohioans” have protested the policies, which include a statewide mask mandate, business closures, and a stay-at-home order.
According to ABC 6, “In Ohio, a dozen militia groups have either started or have been active on the website MyMilitia.com since March when Governor Mike DeWine ordered people to stay in their homes due to the coronavirus.”
The news comes just weeks after the FBI announced that it had busted a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overthrow the Michigan government for her strict coronavirus measures.
