A retired police officer said he missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter because he was in jail for refusing to take down a meme from Facebook about the death of Charlie Kirk.
Larry Bushart, 61, received $835,000 in a settlement on Wednesday after suing Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems over the incident.
‘Respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow.’
Bushart posted several memes after Kirk was shot and killed in Sept. 2025. One of the memes quoted President Donald Trump on a separate shooting case where he said, “We have to get over it.”
While Weems admitted that some of Bushart’s posts were protected by free speech rights, he claimed that this particular post had caused people to fear the possibility of political violence.
The meme referenced the president’s comments about a shooting at Perry High School in Iowa, but the sheriff said it made people believe Weems was calling for a shooting at Perry County High School in Tennessee.
“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,” Weems said to WTVF-TV in Oct. 2025.
When Bushart was arrested, he was informed about the threat to a school.
“At a school?” Bushart responded. “I play on Facebook. I threatened no one.”
The sheriff admitted that the police knew Bushart was referring to a different school but added that the public did not know that.
Weems put Bushart in jail, and a local judge set his bail at $2 million.
After 37 days, the felony charge was dropped and Bushart was set free.
Bushart also said he lost his post-retirement job while in jail.
“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Bushart said after the settlement was reached. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”
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Cary Davis, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, praised the ruling as a warning to other government officials. FIRE represented Bushart in the case.
“It’s in times of turmoil and heightened tensions that our national commitment to free speech is tested the most,” Davis said.
“When government officials fail that test, the Constitution exists to hold them accountable,” Davis added. “Our hope is that Larry’s settlement sends a message to law enforcement across the country: Respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow.”
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