An Ohio man is suing the city of Cuyahoga Falls for violating his First Amendment rights after police arrested him outside a local abortion clinic last December.
Three days after Christmas, Zachary Knotts and his wife peacefully promoted pro-life values on a public sidewalk near Northeast Ohio Women’s Center.
To share his evangelical message, Knotts spoke into a battery-powered megaphone, which had previously been cleared for public use by the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department. Abortion clinic escorts quickly swarmed Knotts, shoving umbrellas in his face and drowning his words with whistles and kazoos. Despite the escorts’ repeated noise and harassment, police only arrested Knotts for violation of the Cuyahoga Falls noise ordinance.
In their report, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) states: “Although Mr. Knotts used a megaphone to be heard, his megaphone was not substantially louder than the noise of surrounding traffic. The audio from Mrs. Knotts’ video recording demonstrates that Mr. Knotts’ megaphone was easily drowned out by the sound of the traffic on the nearby State Road and the escorts’ whistles and kazoos used to drown out his megaphone.”
ACLJ attorneys claim Knotts’ arrest clearly compromised his right to free speech, noting:
- Police can’t prove Knotts’ volume violated local ordinance – the batteries in his megaphone died before their arrival.
- Although a nearby resident complained about Knotts’ pro-life speech, she never mentioned the escorts’ noise.
- The only witness questioned was an off-duty, private security officer for the abortion clinic.
- An officer warned Knotts would be arrested again if he caused further “annoyance,” regardless of whether or not he used amplified speech.
Though police seemed eager to shut down Knotts’ pro-life message, officers had previously refused to censor abortion escorts’ threatening speech.
During a previous encounter in the presence of a police officer, Knotts reportedly told escorts his mother-in-law had considered abortion, and that his now-wife “should be dead.” One escort responded, “We can fix that.”
Another spat on Knotts. Police told Mrs. Knotts these alarming threats were not a crime.
The ACLJ writes: “The First Amendment doesn’t guarantee freedom from annoyance or inconvenience – it guarantees freedom of speech, especially for unpopular viewpoints that challenge the status quo. When government officials start deciding which messages deserve protection based on their own preferences, we’re all at risk.”
ACLJ’s lawsuit, filed May 30 seeks the following:
- A declaration that the charges and arrest were unconstitutional
- Compensation for alleged violations
- A bar banning police from arresting protesters outside the abortion clinic
- The return of Knotts’ microphone
The government does not have authority to censor citizens based on the content of their speech. Unfortunately – and too frequently – pro-life advocates like Zachary Knotts are not always afforded their First Amendment rights.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
