A retired Tennessee cop who spent more than a month in jail over a Facebook meme posted in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing is walking away with $835,000. Perry County officials agreed to the settlement with 61-year-old Larry Bushart, who was locked up for 37 days on a felony charge that was later dropped, the AP reports.
CNN reports that 10 days after Kirk's Sept. 10 murder, Bushart posted a meme in a Perry County Facebook group in relation to a vigil being held in Tennessee for Kirk with the caption, "This seems relevant today." The meme featured an image of Trump with these words superimposed: "'We have to get over it.' - Donald Trump, on the Perry High School mass shooting one day after." (See a screenshot here.) It was a reference to the January 2024 shooting at Perry High School in Des Moines, Iowa, that left two dead. Bushart was arrested at his house the next day for "threatening mass violence at a school."
Authorities said the meme alarmed locals who thought Bushart was hinting at violence against nearby Perry County High School, despite the sheriff acknowledging he knew the post referred to an Iowa school. "The public did not know," he told NewsChannel 5. Bushart says he lost his post-retirement job and missed both his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter while jailed. The charge was dropped in late October.
As part of the settlement, Bushart will drop the federal civil rights lawsuit he filed against the sheriff, an investigator, and the county. The case had been set for trial in July. "I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated," he said in a statement. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which helped represent him, said the case should serve as a warning: "Respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow."
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