Tennessee Sheriff Jails Retired Officer Over Political Meme, Officer Released After Charges Dropped

Authorities in Perry County, Tennessee jailed retired officer Larry Bushart for more than five weeks on a $2 million bond after a Facebook meme quoting Donald Trump about a past school shooting was perceived locally as a threat to Perry County High School.

“Authorities in Tennessee have dropped a felony charge against Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old former law enforcement officer who was jailed for over a month due to a Facebook post about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk”

Associated Press

Prosecutors have since dropped the felony charge and released him.

Associated Press

Multiple outlets note the meme referenced a school shooting in Perry, Iowa and circulated in a local Perry, Tennessee Facebook group.

Officials and residents misread the meme as a local threat before the dismissal.

Bushart, 61, expressed relief upon release.

Coverage diverges on why the case collapsed and what, if anything, it proved about the limits of speech and public fear.

Sheriff Nick Weems defended the arrest as a response to community reports and fear.

Accounts differ on whether Bushart defied requests to take down the post.

CBS News

AP and The Spec say he was arrested after refusing to delete it.

Straight Arrow News notes conflicting accounts on that point.

Salon frames the arrest as intended to ease community fears.

Killeen Daily Herald adds that Weems accused Bushart of trying to create hysteria, sharpening the dispute over motive.

Coverage also differs on the political context.

“Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel was briefly taken off the air after making a joke about a shooter’s political affiliation”

Daily Kos

Several outlets anchor the episode to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

AP and The Spec emphasize the meme’s link to the assassination.

Straight Arrow News connects the arrest to debates over political targeting after Kirk’s murder.

Daily Kos goes further, calling Bushart a gun control advocate and describing a right-wing backlash that encouraged reporting people who joked about Kirk’s death.

Miningjournal.net adds Trump’s earlier reaction to the Perry, Iowa shooting—“We have to get over it”—as the quote Bushart echoed, deepening the political valence of the meme.

Civil-liberties and procedural critiques vary regarding the incident.

Reason Magazine argues the meme was clearly protected by the First Amendment and notes that body camera footage showed police uncertainty.

Magnolia Tribune

The magazine also reports that Bushart lost his job during the ordeal.

Straight Arrow News states that Bushart and his attorney plan to sue over alleged wrongful detainment and First Amendment violations.

The Spec and Killeen Daily Herald highlight free speech advocates’ criticism and the lack of official explanation for the dismissal.

Miningjournal.net alleges investigative failures and describes the $2 million bail as excessive, intensifying concerns about overreach.

Key factual through-lines recur across outlets: the meme quoted Trump about a Perry, Iowa shooting.

“Nov 1, 2025 Andrew Napolitano, syndicated columnist In the aftermath of the murder of Charlie Kirk, many folks who dared to express views of him and his work outside the mainstream lost their jobs, professional standing and State Department visas as they were fired or otherwise disciplined by employers or bureaucrats who concluded that anti-Kirk views could harm the employers’ businesses or were inconsistent with institutional values”

miningjournal.net

Locals in Perry County, Tennessee perceived it as a threat to their high school.

miningjournal.net

Weems cited community fear.

Bushart spent over a month in jail on a $2 million bond.

Prosecutors later dropped the felony charge.

Still, gaps remain: the sheriff and district attorney offered no explanation for the dismissal.

Reporting diverges on whether Bushart refused to delete the post and on the role of a new 2024 law.

These unresolved points sustain disputes over whether this was a justified precaution or unconstitutional retaliation for political speech.