A retired Tennessee police officer was jailed for 37 days for sharing a meme on Facebook about the Charlie Kirk murder.
Larry Bushart settled the lawsuit for $835,000 and dropped the lawsuit against Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems and Detective Jason Marrow under the deal announced Wednesday, May 20.
Authorities agreed that there was no fault and agreed that the county’s insurance company would pay the settlement.
Bushart was arrested in September, 10 days after the murder of a political activist at an event at Utah Valley University.
The meme featured a picture of President Donald Trump with the quote: “We’ve got to get over it.” The meme context comes from Trump’s statement in 2024 after a school shooting at Perry High School in Des Moines, Iowa.
Bushart added a caption while sharing the meme: “This seems relevant today.”
It was reported that the post was seen as a threat to Perry County High School in Tennessee. Officers came to Bushart’s residence the following day and arrested him on charges of “threatening mass violence at a school”.
Unable to post $2 million bail, Bushart remained in jail for 37 days before the case against him was withdrawn by the District Attorney in late October.
Of the settlement, Bushaart said, “I am pleased that my First Amendment rights have been vindicated. The people’s freedom to engage in civil discourse is essential to a healthy democracy.”
