{"id":141,"date":"2026-05-21T06:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:36:35","slug":"tennessee-ex-cop-wins-massive-settlement-after-being-jailed-for-charlie-kirk-meme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=141","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee ex-cop wins massive settlement after being jailed for Charlie Kirk meme"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Tennessee man jailed for 37 days has won an $835,000 settlement after a local sheriff admitted that he knew the meme the man had posted was not a threat.<\/p>\n

Read more Growing chorus of Republicans pledge to \u2018kill\u2019 Trump\u2019s $1.8 billion DOJ fund<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,\u201d Larry Bushart said in a statement, NewsChannel 5 reported. \u201cThe people\u2019s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bushart is dropping a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the sheriff, Nick Weems, an investigator, and the county for violating his constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

Following the September murder of Charlie Kirk, Bushart posted a meme in a Perry County Facebook group.<\/p>\n

The meme featured a photo of President Donald Trump, and a quote the president had made after a high school mass shooting that left two people dead and six people injured. The quote was, \u201cwe have to get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meme also read: \u201cThis seems relevant today.\u201d<\/p>\n

NewsChannel 5 reports that \u201cbecause some people misinterpreted that meme as a threat to shoot up Perry County High School in Linden, Tenn., sheriff\u2019s deputies arrested Bushart for threatening to commit an act of mass violence at a school. He was held for 37 days, unable to make the $2 million bond set by a local magistrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheriff Weems admitted to NewsChannel 5 that he knew the meme was not about Perry County High School in Linden, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t say Perry County High School,\u201d the news outlet told the sheriff in an interview.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Shameless\u2019 GOP chair \u2018gets his turn\u2019 at the Trump trough: Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt says \u2018Perry High School mass shooting one day after,\u2019 ok? That led people to believe in our county that he\u2019s talking about Perry County High School \u2013 because it doesn\u2019t say \u2018Iowa\u2019 either,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you also knew this was an existing meme that was already out there on the Internet,\u201d NewsChannel 5 pressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorrect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s clear that he\u2019s not talking about Perry County High School,\u201d the station confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew,\u201d Sheriff Weems said. \u201cThe public did not know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bushart was freed the following day, but he lost a post-retirement job, missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of a grandchild.<\/p>\n

A non-profit organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), stepped in to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because the authorities disagree with its message,\u201d FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh told NewsChannel 5.<\/p>\n

Read more News anchor grills Trump advisor over baffling Texas endorsement<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Tennessee man jailed for 37 days has won an $835,000 settlement after a local sheriff admitted that he knew the meme the man had posted was not a threat.\u201cI am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,\u201d Larry Bushart said in a statement, NewsChannel 5 reported. \u201cThe people\u2019s freedom t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTennessee ex-cop wins massive settlement after being jailed for Charlie Kirk meme - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=141\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tennessee ex-cop wins massive settlement after being jailed for Charlie Kirk meme - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Tennessee man jailed for 37 days has won an $835,000 settlement after a local sheriff admitted that he knew the meme the man had posted was not a threat.\u201cI am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,\u201d Larry Bushart said in a statement, NewsChannel 5 reported. \u201cThe people\u2019s freedom t...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=141\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T06:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ff53a93d821f8958afb1c80a8127cb7f.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Tennessee ex-cop wins massive settlement after being jailed for Charlie Kirk meme\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T06:36:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141\"},\"wordCount\":460,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ff53a93d821f8958afb1c80a8127cb7f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=141\",\"name\":\"Tennessee ex-cop wins massive settlement after being jailed for Charlie Kirk meme - 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