- A First Amendment lawsuit won retired officer Larry Bushart $835,000 after 37 days jailed over a Facebook meme.
- The First Amendment lawsuit exposed how local officials withheld key context from the arrest warrant application.
- Sheriff Nick Weems admitted he knew the meme referenced a school shooting in a different state, over 500 miles away.
- Bushart’s case is one of hundreds tied to online speech crackdowns following the September 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk.
- A First Amendment lawsuit won retired officer Larry Bushart $835,000 after 37 days jailed over a Facebook meme.
- The First Amendment lawsuit exposed how local officials withheld key context from the arrest warrant application.
- Sheriff Nick Weems admitted he knew the meme referenced a school shooting in a different state, over 500 miles away.
- Bushart’s case is one of hundreds tied to online speech crackdowns following the September 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk.
A Meme, a Midnight Arrest, and a First Amendment Lawsuit
When Larry Bushart shared a meme on Facebook last fall, he wasn’t issuing a threat. He wasn’t inciting violence. He was doing what millions of Americans do every day — reposting someone else’s political commentary online. That single act landed the retired Tennessee law enforcement officer in jail for 37 days, cost him his post-retirement job, and caused him to miss both his anniversary and the birth of his grandchild. Now, after a hard-fought First Amendment lawsuit, Bushart is walking away with an $835,000 settlement from Perry County, Tennessee, and the officials who put him behind bars.
The settlement, announced on May 20, 2026, by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and co-counsel Phillips & Phillips, PLLC, resolves federal civil rights claims against Sheriff Nick Weems, Investigator Jason Morrow, and Perry County itself. Bushart didn’t create the meme. He didn’t alter it. He simply shared it — and that was enough to trigger an arrest that, by any reasonable legal standard, should never have happened.
What the Meme Actually Said — and What Officials Claimed
The meme in question accurately quoted Donald Trump’s response following a school shooting:
