Authorities investigating reported plot to kidnap Ohio Gov. DeWine

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) - The Ohio State Highway Patrol confirms it is investigating a reported plot to kidnap Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, which was thwarted after another man reported the plan to local police.

A Miami County man told the Piqua Police Department on Oct. 16 that he had stopped a group of people from kidnapping Gov. DeWine, and that he had been recruited by a group that intended to arrest DeWine for tyranny.

In police reports, officers wrote that they spoke with a citizen who told them he had submitted affidavits to the state filing charges of tyranny against DeWine, but the state did not accept his charges. Later, the man said he had received a phone call from a woman who was organizing a group of people intending to go to DeWine's Cedarville residence and arrest him for tyranny.

According to the police report, the man said he told the woman that he did not want to be involved and that he was reporting the call to the police.

While speaking to the media on Friday, DeWine said he didn't know about the plot, but said that it is despicable people would try to go around the legal process.

“At this point in my life I’m not shocked by anything," DeWine said. "People in every state believe they can take the law into their own hands, that they have every right to basically go and overthrow the government...it’s incumbent on all of us to denounce that, no matter where it’s coming from.”

DeWine previously called a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer "a despicable act."

In a related development on Thursday, a group introduced themselves to WSYX/WTTE senior political reporter Geoff Redick at the Ohio Statehouse after what they called a "swearing-in" ceremony on the Capitol Square. One woman in the group said she had sworn an "oath of office" that proclaimed she was now governor of Ohio, and presented some notarized documents which she claimed certified the oath.

This is the same woman mentioned in the Piqua police report. WSYX/WTTE is not identifying her or the parties involved with her, as they are not currently facing criminal charges.

Piqua police said they have forwarded the report to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which is the agency that investigates any threats made to the governor. OSHP said Friday that while they are investigating, they do not discuss threats against elected officials or the security concerns or changes raised by those threats.