Larry Bushart #

Introduction #

Larry Bushart is a 61-year-old retired law-enforcement officer from Lexington, Tennessee, whose case became one of the most severe examples of the backlash that followed the September 10, 2025, assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. A Reuters investigation counted more than 600 people who were fired, suspended, or investigated over statements about Kirk’s death, but while most of those cases were employment disputes, Bushart’s stood out as a rare instance in which online speech led to criminal prosecution and jail rather than a firing. After he reposted a Facebook meme quoting President Donald Trump’s reaction to a 2024 school shooting, Perry County sheriff’s investigators said the post could be confused with a threat against a local high school and claimed it caused “mass hysteria.” Bushart was arrested in September 2025 and spent 37 days in jail on a $2 million bond, refusing to take the post down. He later sued Perry County, its sheriff, and the investigator who obtained the warrant, and in May 2026 the county agreed to pay him $835,000 to settle.

Background Information #

Bushart spent his career in law enforcement; news accounts describe the 61-year-old as a retired police officer. He lives near Perry County, Tennessee, and worked a post-retirement job — one he would lose while jailed, according to the federal lawsuit he later filed. He is married and a grandfather, and reporting on his settlement noted that it would help ensure a comfortable retirement for him and his wife. Until the days after Kirk’s killing, Bushart was a private citizen, and NPR explicitly distinguished his case from the job-loss cases that dominated the backlash, describing him as “wrongfully detained” rather than fired.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, and communities including Perry County, Tennessee, held candlelight vigils for him. On a Facebook thread promoting a local vigil, Bushart reposted a meme that he neither created nor altered. The meme read “This seems relevant today …” and featured Donald Trump alongside the words “We have to get over it” — a quote the meme attributed, accurately, to Trump’s 2024 remark after a shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa.

The problem was the name. The school referenced in the meme, Perry High School in Iowa, could be confused with Perry County High School in Tennessee. Sheriff Nick Weems acknowledged he knew the meme referred to an Iowa school, but told news outlets that residents were alarmed, fearing Bushart was threatening the local school; most of Bushart’s other “hate memes,” Weems said, were lawful free speech. “Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community,” Weems said in a statement to The Tennessean. According to FIRE, Weems obtained an arrest warrant “based on the absurd notion that the meme could be interpreted as a threat,” and later admitted he knew at the time of the arrest that the post was a pre-existing meme about an actual shooting more than 500 miles away.

Bushart was arrested in September 2025 and jailed on a $2 million bond he could not afford; footage reviewed by The Intercept shows a jail officer reading the charge aloud — “Threatening Mass Violence at a School” — and, when Bushart asked “At a school?”, answering, “I ain’t got a clue.” He refused to remove the post. He spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charge in October.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The case drew national attention as it became clear a man was sitting in jail over a months-old presidential quote. NPR reported that the sheriff’s department claimed the meme had caused “mass hysteria” and might have prompted panic at the local school, but a public-records request filed by FIRE — the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — found the school had no communication about Bushart’s post, undercutting the panic narrative. Bushart’s arrest became a rallying point for free-speech advocates; FIRE, which helped represent him, cited his case within the broader pattern Reuters documented of more than 600 people punished for online statements about Kirk’s death, which the group linked to a government-backed campaign targeting political speech.

In December 2025, Bushart filed a federal lawsuit against Perry County, its sheriff, and the investigator who obtained the arrest warrant. FIRE said the arrest violated his constitutional rights “in retaliation for his protected speech,” and Bushart said the county had jailed him in order to censor him.

Current Status #

The case is resolved. On May 20, 2026, Tennessee officials announced they would pay Bushart $835,000 to settle the lawsuit, which he agreed to dismiss. “I am pleased my first amendment rights [to free speech] have been vindicated,” Bushart said in a statement. “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.” Cary Davis, an attorney at FIRE, said “it’s in times of turmoil and heightened tensions that our national commitment to free speech is tested the most,” and expressed hope 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.” Perry County Mayor John Carroll did not respond to a request for comment.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The 37 days in jail cost Bushart his post-retirement job and, because he could not afford the $2 million bond, kept him behind bars for milestones he could not recover: according to his lawsuit, he missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter. “No one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because the authorities disagree with its message,” said Adam Steinbaugh, a FIRE senior attorney. “We’re pleased that Larry has been compensated for this injustice, but local law enforcement never should have forced him to endure this ordeal in the first place.” The settlement will help ensure a comfortable retirement for Bushart and his wife, though, as Ars Technica noted, it does not make up for the other losses. His case remains the sharpest illustration of how the Kirk-post backlash could escalate beyond employment: where most of the more than 600 people Reuters counted were fired or disciplined by employers, Bushart — a retired private citizen — was arrested, jailed for more than a month, and charged with a felony over a post he refused to delete.