On March 28, 2025, Don Leonard was arrested mid-speech at a "No Kings" rally in Grove City, Ohio. He was standing on the back of a pickup truck, bullhorn in hand, addressing a crowd of peaceful protesters, when police arrived, confiscated his megaphone, and handcuffed him in front of the crowd. His charges: violating a noise ordinance and obstructing official business.

Leonard is a congressional candidate. But that's almost beside the point. He was an American citizen exercising his First Amendment right to speak at a political rally — and he was arrested for it.

Grove City police had a choice. When they determined Leonard had violated a noise ordinance, they could have issued a citation and moved on. Instead, they deployed seven or eight cruisers, separated him from the crowd of witnesses he specifically asked to remain near, and hauled him off to be booked, fingerprinted, and photographed. That is not noise enforcement. That is intimidation.

This is a pattern Americans are seeing play out in communities across the country — technical ordinances selectively enforced against protesters, used not to preserve public order, but to shut down political speech. Today it was a bullhorn at a rally in Grove City. Tomorrow it could be a sign on a sidewalk, a chant outside a city council meeting, or a crowd gathered in a public park.

The First Amendment does not come with a volume limit. Political protest has always been loud by necessity — because the people marching in the streets are trying to be heard by the people in power who would prefer silence.

We are calling on the Grove City Police Department to commit to protecting First Amendment rights at political demonstrations — and to drop the charges against Don Leonard now.

Sign this petition to send a clear message: the right to protest is not negotiable.