Larry Bushart, a retired law-enforcement officer, was awarded an $835,000 [1] settlement after being jailed for sharing a Facebook meme.

The case highlights the tension between law enforcement interpretations of online threats and First Amendment protections regarding political speech.

Bushart, 61 [1], was arrested in September 2025 in Perry County, Tennessee [2]. The arrest followed the sharing of a meme concerning the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Following the arrest, bail was set at $2,000,000 [3].

Bushart spent 37 days [2] in jail. The Perry County sheriff's office said the meme encouraged violence and was viewed as a threat to a local high school. "Some people in Perry County interpreted the meme as a threat to their local high school," Sheriff Nick Weems said [2].

The settlement acknowledges that the prosecution violated Bushart's free-speech rights. A spokesperson for Perry County said the local government is settling to avoid further litigation, and to correct a wrongful arrest [1].

Bushart described the financial award as a validation of constitutional protections. "This is a victory for free speech rights," Bushart said [3].

“"This is a victory for free speech rights,"”

This settlement underscores the legal risks local governments face when treating political satire or memes as actionable threats. By awarding a significant sum and acknowledging a violation of free-speech rights, the court reinforces the high threshold required to prove that online speech constitutes a 'true threat' rather than protected political expression.