Tennessee man jailed 37 days for a Trump meme wins $835,000
by Ellsworth Toohey · Boing BoingLarry Bushart, a Tennessee retiree who spent his career in law enforcement, will receive $835,000 from Perry County and Sheriff Nick Weems to settle the federal civil rights case he filed last December, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression announced today. FIRE and Phillips & Phillips, PLLC represented Bushart.
Bushart had replied to a Facebook post about a Charlie Kirk vigil by sharing an unaltered meme that quoted Donald Trump's actual response to the 2024 Perry High School shooting in Perry, Iowa — "We have to get over it." Weems decided the meme might pose a threat to Perry County High School in Tennessee, more than 500 miles from the Iowa school the meme referenced, and obtained a warrant. Body-camera footage captured Bushart telling the arresting officer he had never made any threat.
Weems later admitted in an interview that he knew the meme was a pre-existing image referring to the Iowa shooting before he sought the warrant. He and Investigator Jason Morrow omitted that detail from the warrant application.
Bond was set at $2 million. Over 37 days behind bars, Bushart was fired from the job he had taken after retirement, sat out his wedding anniversary, and was absent for the birth of his grandchild. Perry County released him only after the story went viral and the outrage grew loud enough to embarrass them.
"I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated," Bushart said in the joint statement announcing the settlement. "I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family."
FIRE says hundreds of Americans have been punished for online speech in the wake of Kirk's killing. The group still represents Monica Meeks, a Tennessee public servant who was fired by the state over a Facebook post criticizing Kirk. FIRE recently settled a case for an Austin Peay State University professor dismissed for quoting Kirk's own remarks on gun violence.
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