A retired Tennessee police officer will receive an $835,000 [2] settlement after being jailed for 37 days [1] over a Facebook post.
The settlement follows a lawsuit alleging wrongful imprisonment in Perry County. The case highlights the tension between public safety concerns and First Amendment protections regarding social media speech.
Larry Bushart was arrested earlier this year after posting about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. County officials said the post incited hysteria following the killing, which led to his detention [1, 5]. Bushart spent 37 days [1] in jail before his release.
Bushart, a former police officer, filed a lawsuit against Perry County officials. The legal action alleged that his incarceration was a violation of his civil rights and constituted wrongful imprisonment [3, 5]. The $835,000 [2] payment resolves the dispute between the retired officer and the local government.
Officials in Perry County said the arrest was justified by citing the volatile environment surrounding the death of Kirk. However, the subsequent legal settlement suggests a failure in the application of law regarding the thresholds for inciting violence versus protected speech [3, 5].
The agreement concludes the legal battle over the 37-day [1] incarceration that drew national attention to the limits of online expression in the U.S.
“A retired Tennessee police officer will receive an $835,000 settlement after being jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post.”
This settlement reflects a judicial check on local government authority to detain citizens for social media activity. By awarding a significant sum, the legal outcome underscores that 'inciting hysteria' is often an insufficient legal standard to override constitutional protections against wrongful imprisonment.
