Ex-Tennessee Cop Arrested Over Charlie Kirk Meme…
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Going to jail for mocking a white supremacist podcaster is loopy work.
A former Tennessee police officer who spent more than a month in jail over Facebook memes posted after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has reached an $835,000 settlement with local officers, according to GWN. The case has change into a major flashpoint in the talk over free speech, online speech, and egregious law enforcement overreach.
Larry Bushart is a 61-year-old retired police officer from Perry County. He was arrested in September 2025 after posting memes associated to Kirk’s killing on Facebook. One meme that drew the eye of authorities featured a photograph of President Donald Trump alongside the phrase “We have to get over it,” referencing Trump’s response to the 2024 Perry High School capturing in Iowa. How that quantities to a “threat” makes no sense in any way.
Local officers inexplicably claimed residents interpreted the meme as a potential risk against Perry County High School in Tennessee because of the same title. Bushart insisted the post was political commentary and protected speech under the First Amendment. Despite no express risk being made, he was charged with threatening mass violence at a faculty, jailed for 37 days, and given an exorbitant $2 million bond.
Bushart later filed a federal lawsuit against Perry County, Sheriff Nick Weems, and the investigator who secured the arrest warrant. The lawsuit argued that officers violated his constitutional rights by criminalizing speech that, while controversial, didn’t quantity to a real risk. During his incarceration, Bushart reportedly misplaced his post-retirement job, missed his marriage ceremony anniversary, and missed the delivery of his granddaughter.
According to News Channel 5, Weems feably tried to make sense of the nonsensical:
“This has everything to do with a guy coming onto a Perry County page posting this picture leading people in our community to believe that there was a hypothetical Perry County High School shooting that caused fear in our community – and we done something about it,”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which represented Bushart, blasted the arrest as a harmful instance of authorities overreach during a politically charged second. Attorney Adam Steinbaugh said no one needs to be “hauled off to jail in the darkish of night time over a innocent meme.”
“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Bushart said in a assertion Wednesday. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy.”
This man ought to have gotten 3 instances this quantity but we’re glad he has his freedom.
The post Ex-Tennessee Cop Arrested Over Charlie Kirk Meme Settles ‘Unlawful Incarceration’ Lawsuit For $835,000 appeared first on GWN.
