Tennessee man arrested over Facebook post and jailed 37 days after police came to his home
Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired law-enforcement officer, was arrested on September 21, 2025 after Perry County, Tennessee authorities became aware of a meme he posted in a local Facebook group following the killing of Charlie Kirk. He was charged with threatening mass violence on school property, held on a $2 million bond, and remained jailed 37 days until his October 29 release. The district attorney later dropped all charges.
Bushart, who spent more than three decades in law enforcement before retiring, commented on a Facebook post in a Perry County community group that was organizing a vigil after the September 10, 2025 killing of Charlie Kirk. Among the images he posted was a meme — which he did not create — showing Donald Trump alongside his quoted reaction to a January 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa, with added text reading "This seems relevant today." Local police visited Bushart's home the evening of September 21 to tell him the sheriff's office might contact him about the post; he declined to remove it. A warrant issued later that night and officers returned to arrest him on a charge of threatening mass violence at a school, a Class E felony. Bond was set at $2 million, which Bushart could not pay, and he remained incarcerated for 37 days before his release on October 29, 2025. The district attorney subsequently dropped all charges. Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems publicly defended the arrest, telling The Tennessean that the post led teachers, parents and students to conclude Bushart was referring to Perry County High School in Tennessee and that investigators believed he intended to create alarm. Bushart denied threatening anyone. The Tennessean reported that the same image had circulated widely online since 2024 unconnected to Bushart. Whether the post was understood as a threat, and the officials' motives, remained contested; the criminal case ended without any adjudication of those questions.
Case updates
2 updates- Update · Dec 17, 2025
Bushart files federal civil-rights lawsuit against Perry County officials
On December 17, 2025, Bushart filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against Perry County, Sheriff Nick Weems and sheriff's investigator Jason Morrow, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The complaint alleges violations of his First Amendment rights (retaliation for protected speech) and Fourth Amendment rights (arrest without probable cause). It further alleges that the county and sheriff did not respond to public records requests seeking evidence of the community reaction cited as justification for the arrest. These are allegations in Bushart's complaint and were not adjudicated by a court. In responsive filings, the defendants denied that the speech was protected and asserted qualified immunity.
- Update · May 20, 2026
Case settles for $835,000 with no admission of wrongdoing
On May 20, 2026, the parties announced a settlement under which Bushart receives $835,000 in exchange for dismissing his complaint. The joint statement includes no admission of wrongdoing by the defendants, and no court ruled on the merits of the constitutional claims. The case is listed as closed.