Perry County pays $835k to settle lawsuit after sheriff jailed man for 37 days over Trump meme

A Perry County man, who was wrongly detained for 37 days for posting a meme following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has settled the case for $835,000.

Larry Bushart was arrested by a Perry County Sheriff’s Office in September for posting a Facebook meme in a thread about a vigil honoring Kirk after he was shot and killed. 

Bushart’s meme included the quote “seems relevant today” and a picture of President Donald Trump, quoted as saying, “We have to get over it.” Under the quote, it said “President Donald Trump, one day after the Perry High School mass shooting.”

The meme is a reference to a 2024 school shooting in Iowa, not the Perry County High School in Tennessee. 

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bushart, claiming the meme “threatening a mass shooting” at the local school, and had his bond set at $2 million, an amount he could not afford. 

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Bushart five weeks later after the news of the incident had been picked up nationally, and Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems admitted to NewsChannel 5 that he knew the meme referenced the Iowa shooting, even if the public didn’t.

The First Amendment rights organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, FIRE, represented Bushart in his lawsuit against Weems and the county.

“No one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because the authorities disagree with its message,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with FIRE, in a news release. “Local law enforcement never should have forced him to endure this ordeal in the first place.”

Kirk’s death sparked a wide range of emotions. Communities around the country honored Kirk in for his conservative activism. But he was also known for his fierce defense of the Second Amendment and gun rights. Kirk in 2023 said “some gun deaths” were worth the cost to “protect our other God-given rights.”

His killing also led to a crackdown on speech. Leaders with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission tried to get late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show canceled after he criticized Kirk after the killing.

In Tennessee, FIRE also represented an Austin Peay State University professor who was initially fired for posts quoting Kirk. The organization helped him get reinstated and a $500,000 settlement. 

FIRE is also currently representing a former employee of a state commerce and insurance department who was fired for posts criticizing Kirk.