A retired police officer from rural Tennessee spent more than a month behind bars over a Facebook post that authorities said hinted at school violence, a charge now thrown out, but one that has raised new concerns about criminalizing speech online.
Larry Bushart, 61, a longtime resident of Perry County and a familiar face in local Facebook debates, was arrested in late September after sharing a meme that officials said some interpreted as a threat.
The post appeared in a community group following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The meme that landed Bushart in trouble was not new. It featured an image of President Donald Trump and the words “We have to get over it,” referencing his comment after a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, last year.
Beneath the image, and lacking the context, a caption read, “Donald Trump, on the Perry High School mass shooting, one day after.”
Bushart had added only a brief remark: “This seems relevant today…”
According to Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems, some residents saw the post and believed it referred to their own Perry County High School.
Channel 5 News pressed Sheriff Nick Weems on the origins of the meme that led to Bushart’s arrest.
The image, which referenced a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, had circulated widely online before Bushart shared it.
“It says ‘Perry High School mass shooting one day after,’ ok? That led people to believe in our county that he’s talking about Perry County High School – because it doesn’t say ‘Iowa’ either,” Weems explained.
When reporters pointed out that the meme was already known to be an existing post from the internet, Weems acknowledged, “Correct.”
“So it’s clear that he’s not talking about Perry County High School,” the reporter pressed.
“We knew,” the sheriff admitted. “The public did not know.”
Weems said calls poured into his office, and when Bushart declined to delete the meme, he was charged with recklessly threatening mass violence, a felony that carried the potential for years in prison.
Body camera footage captured the moment Bushart was taken into custody. “I’ve been in Facebook jail,” he told an officer with disbelief. “But I’m really in it now.”
His bail was set at an extraordinary $2 million. For over four weeks, he remained locked up as local officials insisted that the post crossed a legal line.
But on Wednesday, prosecutors abruptly dropped the case and secured his release.
Court documents confirm the dismissal, though no explanation was given for why the charges were abandoned.
