Tennessee Retiree Jailed for Posting a Trump Meme Wins $835,000 Settlement

Key Takeaways

• Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired Tennessee law enforcement officer, was arrested in September 2025 and spent 37 days in jail for posting a Trump meme on Facebook while commenting on a Charlie Kirk memorial vigil.
• The arrest warrant deliberately omitted the fact that the meme referenced a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa, not in Tennessee, a detail Sheriff Nick Weems later admitted on television he and his deputies already knew.
• Bushart's bond was set at $2 million, and he was released only after his story went viral nationally, having lost his job and missed his grandchild's birth and his wedding anniversary during his 37 days behind bars.
• After filing a federal civil rights lawsuit with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Bushart settled for $835,000 on May 20, 2026.
• He was one of hundreds of Americans punished for online speech in the crackdown following Kirk's assassination.

37 Days in Jail for a Meme He Didn't Even Write

On September 20, 2025, ten days after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah university, Larry Bushart saw a Facebook post promoting a candlelight vigil in nearby Perry County, Tennessee, and left a comment with a pre-existing Trump meme quoting the president's rather insensitive response to a January 2024 school shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, where, casually downplaying the country’s gun issues and the consequences that follow, Trump told the people, “We have to get over it.”

The next evening, at 11:14 PM, four officers from the Lexington Police Department showed up at his front door and handcuffed him on his porch in front of his wife on a charge of threatening mass violence at a school. His bond was set at $2 million. He would remain in the Perry County jail for 37 days.

Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems, who had himself promoted the Kirk vigil on Facebook, directed the arrest. The warrant affidavit, filed by Investigator Jason Morrow, described the meme as something a reasonable person would conclude could lead to serious bodily injury or death, while omitting that it referenced a real shooting in a different state, 695 miles away, nearly two years earlier. Weems later admitted on television that he and his deputies "knew" that from the start.

Bushart, a 34-year veteran of Tennessee law enforcement, told the arresting officer he had never made a threat, with the officer laughing and saying he had no idea what Perry County wanted. The Perry County School District later produced zero records of any community alarm the meme had supposedly caused.

What 37 Days Actually Costs a Person

Bushart was working a post-retirement job in medical transportation when Weems had him arrested. He lost that job, missed his wedding anniversary, and missed the birth of his granddaughter, coming home afraid to post online again.

The case attracted national attention after about a month. Weems went on television, admitted his department knew the meme referenced Iowa, and the district attorney filed to dismiss the charges the following day, with Bushart released on October 29, 2025, carrying no conviction and receiving no apology.

Bushart was one of hundreds of Americans targeted for online speech after Kirk's assassination. And it didn’t even need to be related to that specific incident. For example, in Miami, police showed up at the door of a local activist to question her over a Facebook comment criticizing a mayor, a reminder that treating social media posts as law enforcement matters was a pattern well before Perry County made it absurd.

The First Amendment Still Works, and I Mean That

Bushart teamed up with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Sheriff Weems, Investigator Morrow, and Perry County. On May 20, 2026, the parties announced in a joint statement that Bushart will receive $835,000 in exchange for dismissing his complaint.

"I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated," Bushart said. "The people's freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy."

So, despite the absurdity surrounding this whole story, the outcome is actually something we can call good news. A retired law enforcement officer spent 37 days behind bars for posting a political meme in the middle of a national debate, arrested by officials who knew the legal basis for the charge was fabricated, and the Constitution caught up with them.

And yet the settlement doesn't undo what it cost Bushart personally, and it doesn't address the hundreds of other cases where similar things happened without a lawsuit to end them. The government's willingness to gut the institutions meant to protect civil liberties while local officials weaponize arrest warrants against political speech is not a bug in the current environment, and the question for everyone else is who has their back when they can't go viral fast enough.