Retired Tennessee law enforcement officer Larry Bushart is suing after he was jailed for over a month after police arrested him over a Facebook post of a meme quoting Donald Trump following conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s shooting death. Bushart’s crime was quoting Trump when the president said, “We have to get over it,” in response to a 2024 mass shooting at Perry High School in Iowa.
Bushart was arrested and held on $2 million bail over a meme. Charges were eventually dropped, but Bushart is suing.
Via CNN:
In a 30-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Tennessee, Bushart argues he was unlawfully prosecuted over the meme and that officials violated his free speech rights, targeting him “simply for speaking his mind.”
“It is clearly established that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from arresting people for protected political speech,” lawyers for Bushart wrote in the complaint.He’s being represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
