Former police officer arrested for sharing meme after Charlie Kirk shooting sues sheriff
A retired police officer who spent 37 days in jail after posting a meme on Facebook about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against a Tennessee sheriff and his county, alleging they violated his constitutional rights in retaliation for protected speech.
Larry Bushart, with help from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), sued Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems and the county in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee last Wednesday.
Bushart was arrested Sept. 21 on a charge of threatening mass violence at a school, based on a meme he shared that quoted President Donald Trump’s remarks about a 2024 school shooting in Iowa. The meme featured a photo of Trump with the quote “We have to get over it,” alongside commentary reading, “This seems relevant today.”
Authorities held Bushart on a $2 million bond he could not afford. He was released after widespread backlash and media attention, and the charge was later dropped.
The lawsuit — which also names investigator Jason Morrow and seeks damages from Weems and Morrow in their personal capacities — claims Weems concocted a pretext that the meme could be seen as a threat to Perry County High School in Tennessee because it referenced a shooting at Perry High School in Iowa. The complaint also alleges law enforcement omitted key context from the arrest warrant application, including that Weems knew the post was a pre-existing meme and not a local threat.
Bushart says he lost his job and missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his grandchild while in jail.
“I spent over three decades in law enforcement, and have the utmost respect for the law,” Bushart said in a statement via his attorneys. “But I also know my rights, and I was arrested for nothing more than refusing to be bullied into censorship.”
Local police first visited Bushart’s home around 8 p.m. Sept. 21 to warn him about the post. Body camera footage shows an officer telling Bushart, “So I’m going to be completely honest with you, I have really no idea what they’re talking about,” adding that the sheriff mentioned “some concerning posts that were made. ... I don’t know, I just know they said something was insinuating violence.”
Bushart replied, “No, it wasn’t,” and said, “I’m not going to take it down.”
Hours later, after 11 p.m., police returned with an arrest warrant and took him into custody. Footage from that encounter shows Bushart saying, “I threatened no one,” with an officer responding, “That’s not illegal.”
Weems later said in an interview that he believed the arrest was justified because the post caused “mass hysteria” in the community.
But the lawsuit says Facebook's responses to the post showed no one interpreted it as a threat, the Perry County school district has no records of complaints and officials have not responded to public records requests for evidence of hysteria.
“If police can come to your door in the middle of the night and put you behind bars based on nothing more than an entirely false and contrived interpretation of a Facebook post, no one’s First Amendment rights are safe,” said FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh.
The suit alleges violations of Bushart’s First Amendment right to free speech and Fourth Amendment right against unlawful seizure.
“This lawsuit goes beyond Larry,” said FIRE attorney David Rubin. “It’s about making sure police everywhere understand that they cannot punish or intimidate people for sharing controversial opinions online. Law enforcement across the country should be on notice: Respect the First Amendment, or prepare to face the consequences.”
While Bushart’s arrest over a meme brought national attention, authorities have continued to crack down on social media content in other states, including in Texas, where last month, sheriff’s deputies arrested a local activist and Navy veteran after he posted a satirical meme on social media.
Hood County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kolton Krottinger, 38, of Granbury, on Nov. 5 for felony online impersonation after he allegedly created an Oct. 2 Facebook post that appeared to come from another local activist, showing her endorsing Granbury ISD school board candidate Monica Brown.
Prosecutors cited Texas Penal Code 33.07, which prohibits using another person’s name or persona online “without obtaining the other person’s consent and with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or threaten any person.”
The arrest caught the attention of several local and state officials, including former Hood County GOP Chair Nate Criswell, who launched online petitions to drop the charges and urged prosecutors to dismiss the case.
“Unfortunately, I believe the arrest and jailing of Kolton Krottinger is simply the latest in a series of incidents in Hood County that appear to be orchestrated to silence the voice of a segment of our population,” Criswell said. “These actions seem to be devised to discourage a selected group from their participation in the political process here in Hood County.”
