Summary (tl;dr)

Larry Bushart, a retired Tennessee police officer, has received an $835,000 settlement after being unjustly jailed for 37 days in 2025 over a Facebook post he made referencing the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Essential Background

In September 2025, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Following his death, Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired police officer, shared a meme on Facebook that featured a quote from Donald Trump, "We have to get over it," originally spoken after a 2024 school shooting at Perry High School in Iowa. Bushart captioned the meme with "This seems relevant today..." This post was made in the comments section of a Facebook post about a vigil for Kirk in Perry County, Tennessee.

The Full Story

Despite the meme explicitly referencing an Iowa school shooting, the Perry County, Tennessee Sheriff, Nick Weems, claimed residents might interpret Bushart's post as a threat of violence against the local Perry County High School. Bushart was arrested in September 2025 after refusing to remove the Facebook post and was charged with threatening mass violence on school property, a felony. He was held for 37 days on a $2 million bond, during which time he lost his post-retirement job and missed significant family events. Prosecutors eventually dropped the felony charge against him in October 2025. On May 20, 2026, Bushart announced an $835,000 settlement in his federal civil rights lawsuit against Perry County, its sheriff, and the investigator involved in his arrest, stating that his First Amendment rights had been vindicated.

Why It Matters

This case has drawn significant attention to the boundaries of free speech on social media and the potential for government overreach in policing online expression, particularly in politically charged environments. Bushart's prolonged incarceration and the subsequent settlement highlight concerns about the misuse of authority and the importance of constitutional protections for individual speech, even when that speech is perceived as insensitive or critical. The outcome reinforces the idea that citizens should not be unjustly penalized for protected political discourse online.

Geographic Location

• Perry County, Tennessee, United States (arrest, 37-day detention, and federal lawsuit settlement for Larry Bushart)
• Orem, Utah, United States (assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University)
• Iowa, United States (location of Perry High School, referenced in Larry Bushart's meme)