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Zack and Lindsay Knotts have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, following Zack’s arrest during a pro-life demonstration outside the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center on December 28, 2024.
The case stems from an incident in which Zack was arrested for using a battery-powered megaphone to share his pro-life message from a public sidewalk. According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents him, the megaphone was quieter than surrounding traffic, while abortion clinic escorts allegedly used whistles and kazoos in an attempt to drown out Zack’s megaphone.
Despite this, the ACLJ stated, only Zack was arrested for violating a Cuyahoga Falls Ordinance which prohibits “unreasonable noise” that causes “inconvenience or annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities.” The ACLJ argues that the ordinance lacks clear standards and was applied selectively in this instance.
The legal team pointed out that officers who made the arrest arrived after the megaphone had already stopped working, leaving them without any direct observation of its use. Because of this, the organization argues, police had no way of assessing whether the volume exceeded any legal limits.
In addition, the ACLJ noted that the police relied solely on the account of one witness — an off-duty, private security officer employed by the abortion center — and did not interview any others, a detail the group argues presents a conflict of interest.
ACLJ’s case also includes allegations that the Knotts couple were subjected to threats from individuals on site, including a statement directed at Zack to “suck-start a shotgun.” During a prior encounter, Zack had shared that his mother-in-law once considered abortion while pregnant with his now wife, saying that if she had gone through with it, his wife “should be dead.” According to the ACLJ, an escort responded, “We can fix that.”
The ACLJ noted that when Lindsay reported these threats to law enforcement, officers stated that the comments did not constitute a crime.
Zack’s charges were ultimately dismissed at the start of the trial, as CatholicVote previously reported. However, the ACLJ maintains that the legal action had already created a deterrent effect on the Knotts’ future speech.
“The arrest, prosecution, and ongoing threat of future enforcement have already achieved the government’s apparent goal: silencing disfavored speech,” the ACLJ wrote.
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the ordinance is unconstitutional, a permanent injunction against its enforcement, the return of Zack’s megaphone, and compensation for alleged violations.
