Ohio
Trump Rips Ohio Gov. DeWine for Caving on Gender Ideology
Former President Donald Trump condemned Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for vetoing a bill that would have protected children from experimental transgender surgeries and hormonal interventions.
“DeWine has fallen to the Radical Left,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, vowing that he would no longer promote the Republican governor. “No wonder he gets loudly booed in Ohio every time I introduce him at rallies, but I won’t be introducing him any more.”
“I’m finished with this ‘stiff.’ What was he thinking,” Trump asked. “The bill would have stopped child mutilation, and prevented men from playing in women’s sports.”
“Legislature will hopefully overturn,” he added. “Do it FAST!!!”
DeWine, a Republican, framed his veto of House Bill 68 on Friday as an effort to bring consensus on a divisive issue and to avoid having the government decide what medical decisions are best for children. He also echoed the claims of pro-transgender activists that children will commit suicide if they don’t undergo so-called gender-affirming care, such as testosterone or estrogen injections or double mastectomies.
“Were House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is best for a child than the two people who love that child the most, the parents,” DeWine said.
The bill, called the Enact Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, would bar physicians from performing gender-reassignment surgery on a minor and from prescribing cross-sex hormones or drugs to block puberty for the purpose of gender transition. It also would enable students to sue if they are deprived of a fair playing field in sports due to transgender activism and protect parents’ rights to raise their children according to their biological sex.
DeWine did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal. His actions come as a growing number of detransitioners, most of them young women, come forward to sue the doctors and therapists who propelled them along the path toward surgical and hormonal transition.
A detransitioner is someone who sought to change his or her gender through hormonal or surgical interventions and ultimately regretted the attempt, and returned to living as his or her biological sex. Detransitioners, such as activists Chloe Cole and Prisha Mosley, have testified emotionally before lawmakers about how attempting to transition has irrevocably changed their lives.
“Gov. DeWine’s political career is over,” tweeted Cole. “What a way to go out. Paid off by the medical lobby, which is insanely powerful in Ohio. Remember him for his desire to sterilize and mutilate children.”
Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis also weighed in on his fellow Republican governor’s veto, tweeting: “The Ohio legislature should override the veto done by Trump-endorsed Gov. DeWine. I’ve signed both of these bills — and I was right to do so. Girls should be able to compete with fairness and integrity in sports. And these procedures are irreversible and should not be allowed, period.”
Another GOP presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, also slammed the governor’s veto, tweeting: “Ohio Governor Mike DeWine just vetoed a simple law that would have stopped boys from competing in girls’ sports & stopped kids from undergoing genital mutilation & chemical castration. Even Ohio’s Lt. Governor @JonHusted favored passage of the bill. Shame on DeWine.”
Meanwhile, LGBTQ groups such as the Human Rights Campaign celebrated the governor’s veto.
“This bill would have banned gender-affirming care and banned trans youth from participating in school sports that match their identity,” the HRC said in a social media post. “This is a huge win for trans youth and their families in Ohio.”
Tyler O’Neill contributed to this report.
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Authorities arrested four adults on felony child endangerment charges after discovering 16 children in dire need of medical treatment Tuesday in a rural southern Ohio home.
The Ohio Bureau of Investigation and local sheriff’s department searched a home in the small village of Hamden, where they found the kids in what officials called “deplorable” conditions.”
“Conditions you cannot even imagine people being in, let alone children being in,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said at a news conference.
Law enforcement arrested Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders. They have not yet been arraigned and assigned public defenders.
Vinton County prosecuting attorney William Archer said they were being charged with second-degree felony child endangering because it involves “serious physical harm.”
Officials did not confirm if the children were related but said it was not a human trafficking situation. They said the adults were not locals and appeared to have been traveling.
Hamden has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 60 miles southeast of Columbus.
The children ranged from ages 1.5 to 18 and included both boys and girls, officials said. Several were in serious conditions when found, and two had to be flown to level one trauma centers because of their injuries.
Wilson said it was the worst scene he had ever encountered in his entire career, describing what he saw as “pure evil.”
Law enforcement were also executing a secondary search warrant at the home Tuesday, and the investigation is ongoing. The four adults will appear in court Wednesday morning.
“Justice will be served for these children,” Wilson said.
UPDATE 6/30/26 @ 6:30 p.m.
VINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) – Four people are in custody Tuesday after a search found 16 children inside a home in the Hamden area of Vinton County, officials said during a news conference.
“This is pure evil what we saw down here today,” said Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, who described it as one of the worst scenes he has ever seen.
It happened in the 100 block of Ohmer Street.
Two children had to be life-flighted to trauma centers, and the victims are being treated at hospitals throughout Ohio.
Their ages range from one and a half to 18 years old.
“Lives were in danger,” officials said during the news conference, saying it has been a long-term investigation.
They said there is a secondary investigation underway at the property.
The suspects are set to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Vinton County Common Pleas Court.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office, the Vinton County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are among the investigators.
We have a crew at the scene working to get more details. Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.
ORIGINAL STORY
VINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) – A news conference is scheduled Tuesday evening about a search warrant that was executed at a home in the Hamden area of Vinton County.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s office made that announcement, saying the news conference is scheduled at 6 p.m. in McArthur, Ohio.
Along with Wilson, Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain, Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer and members of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are set to attend the news conference.
The search warrant was executed at a home along Ohmer Street, with a heavy law enforcement presence reported throughout the day.
Additional details are unavailable now, but we have a crew headed to the scene.
Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.
Copyright 2026 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
Central Ohio 2026 summer weather forecast
Weather forecasts call for a hotter- and drier-than-normal summer in the region.
The Columbus Dispatch
Central Ohio is under an extreme heat warning starting at noon due to dangerously hot conditions.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington issued the extreme heat warning from noon June 30 to 8 p.m. July 2 in central and south central Ohio as well as parts of Kentucky. The heat index will rise to about 105 degrees, the weather service said.
On June 30, there will be sunny skies and a high near 95 degrees in Columbus, according to a forecast by the weather service. The heat index will reach about 106 degrees.
Columbus will see a high of 98 both July 1 and July 2, with a heat index as high as 106 on July 2, the weather service said.
People should drink plenty of fluids, stay in air conditioned rooms and out of the sun and check on their relatives and neighbors.
People should not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles because car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in minutes, the weather service said.
Cooling centers will open June 30, and the city has waived bus fares and public pool entry fees during the heat wave.
Public safety and breaking news reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com
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