A Cumberland County jury says a man did not assault a Portland police officer last year when he blew an airhorn during the first No Kings protest.

Tyler McGrath, 28, of Falmouth, was one of millions of people who turned out across the country on June 14 to protest actions by the Trump administration. He was accused of assaulting Sgt. Daniel Hayden, who wrote in court records that McGrath had “fired the airhorn in my direction.”

Hayden complained to other officers at the scene that his ears were ringing, according to body camera footage shown in court and reviewed by the Portland Press Herald. Court records show Hayden had his hearing examined six days later in Portland, where an audiologist found “no significant changes” compared to testing he had done in 2023.

McGrath, who was acquitted on the assault charge and a disorderly conduct charge on March 18, has maintained that he did not aim the airhorn at Hayden, and that he was one of several people contributing to a cacophony of cymbals, megaphones, music and chanting.

“It was to add to the noise, to add to the noise that was already happening,” McGrath said in an interview after the trial. “When they say peaceful protest, it can still be peaceful with some noise. I think that’s the key part.”

Hayden declined to comment on the case through a police department spokesman.

McGrath’s acquittal comes as the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office says it’s considering changes to how it handles civil disobedience charges, given limited resources and other pressing public safety needs. District Attorney Jacqueline Sartoris said all cases are “fact-dependent” and that her office will pursue cases when there are allegations and evidence of violence or property damage.

Sartoris said she felt the harm to Hayden was inadvertent, but that she doesn’t regret prosecuting the case, and the jury’s two-hour deliberation validated that.

“I think that is exactly what should have happened with that case — it went to a jury, the jury made the ultimate decision, and we respect that,” she said.

McGrath and his attorney said they consider the case a win for freedom of speech.

“I think it was Tyler’s hope that this case would set an important precedent for free speech in Maine, and I find his decision to risk criminal conviction and jail time to do so to be incredibly admirable,” his lawyer Daniel Wentworth said. 

Police Chief Mark Dubois did not respond to a request for an interview. Department spokesperson Brad Nadeau said in a statement that protests take up significant resources from the department. The most recent No Kings protest last weekend, which the city issued a permit for, cost more than $5,000 in overtime.

Data from the city shows a rise in permitted events with social, political or religious messaging. Spokesperson Jessica Grondin said the city approved requests for 99 events in 2025, compared to 38 events in 2024. The city has issued 28 so far this year, Grondin said.

McGrath said he was motivated to attend last summer’s protest after watching videos of demonstrations in Los Angeles, where the National Guard had been deployed and was using tear gas. For the first couple of hours in Portland, McGrath said, the event was uplifting.

Toward the end, he said, officers began pushing some remaining protesters back at the intersection of Congress and Franklin streets. Around 2:30 p.m., a woman had stepped into a bike lane when an officer physically moved her back onto the sidewalk, Hayden’s body camera footage shows.

As officers detained the woman and took her to a police van across the street, several protesters objected and began to follow. That group included McGrath, who said he was recording the woman in the van and asking for her name and if she needed anything. Police body camera footage shows Hayden pulled him onto the sidewalk by his backpack.

“Why can’t we stand in the street,” McGrath asked several times, before Hayden turned around and walked to where other officers were gathered by the van, various videos show.

McGrath then blew the airhorn and Hayden paused before turning around and walking toward him.

“That was right in my (expletive) ear,” Hayden said while arresting McGrath.

“That was not in your ear,” McGrath shouts, “that was not in anyone’s ear.”

Hayden, a sergeant and supervisor, told other officers minutes earlier to arrest anyone for making noise within 12 inches of their faces, according to his body camera footage. McGrath said in an interview that he believes he had been 7 or 8 feet away, and video shows he wasn’t standing beside Hayden.

McGrath was held at the jail for several hours before he was released on bail. He said his attorney tried to get a judge to dismiss the case at least twice in court, and that prosecutors offered to drop the charge in exchange for community service or a fine.

That generally is a common offer in these types of cases, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Coleman said without addressing McGrath’s case specifically. The prosecutor who handled McGrath’s case declined to comment through Sartoris.

“Certainly, the people who are getting violent, or using hate speech to intimidate, that’s not the people we’re talking about,” Coleman said. “But with the earnest civil disobedience — we want to respect your free speech rights, and we understand the value of civil disobedience, but we’re also in a place where it’s our job to enforce the law. So we think those diversionary practices can be a happy medium.”

McGrath said he felt that would have been admitting to something he didn’t do.

“I had a lot of people telling me, ‘You should probably take the deal, you should be done with it,'” McGrath said. “I felt that wasn’t the right answer.”