Ohio man sues city for arresting him over Facebook page

CLEVELAND (AP) — A man charged with and acquitted of a felony for creating a fake Facebook page that parodied a suburban Cleveland police department is suing the city, saying they violated his right to free speech.

Anthony Novak filed the lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Parma and three officers. He created a Facebook page in March 2016 that appeared similar to the page of Parma's police department and posted items suggesting police were performing free abortions for teenagers. The page also suggested it would be illegal to help the homeless for three months and had a recruitment post "strongly encouraging minorities to not apply."

Novak, 28, took the page down within a day of Parma police announcing their investigation into it. Officers sent Facebook a letter requesting the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company shut the page down, and they issued a subpoena to obtain Novak's identity.

Novak was charged with disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony that carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison. A SWAT team raided his apartment and confiscated his laptops, cellphones, tablets and gaming consoles.

Novak and his attorneys called it a "sham investigation" that violated Novak's constitutional rights to free speech and protection from unreasonable seizure.