A Facebook meme has placed a retired police officer from rural Tennessee in a constitutional battle with his own county sheriff.
Larry Bushart, a former law enforcement veteran, spent more than five weeks in jail on a two-million-dollar bond after Perry County deputies arrested him for what they claimed was a threatening social media post.
His supposed offense was a meme quoting President Donald Trump’s remarks about an Iowa school shooting, a post that by any plain reading referred to events hundreds of miles away. “I spent over three decades in law enforcement, and have the utmost respect for the law,” Bushart said. “But I also know my rights, and I was arrested for nothing more than refusing to be bullied into censorship.”
With support from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Bushart has now taken Sheriff Nick Weems and Perry County to federal court.
His lawsuit accuses them of abusing their authority, falsifying grounds for arrest, and retaliating against him for constitutionally protected expression.
We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.
FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh stated, “If police can come to your door in the middle of the night and put you behind bars based on nothing more than an entirely false and contrived interpretation of a Facebook post, no one’s First Amendment rights are safe.”
The controversy started after Bushart commented on a community post promoting a candlelight vigil for activist Charlie Kirk. He shared a meme using a photograph of Trump with the quote “We have to get over it,” a line from the former president’s reaction to a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa. Bushart added a brief remark: “This seems relevant today…”
Sheriff Weems treated that post as a possible threat toward Perry County High School in Tennessee, arguing that the reference to “Perry” might alarm locals. That interpretation was all it took to set a full criminal process in motion.
Around 8 pm, an officer knocked on Bushart’s door to tell him the sheriff’s office had concerns about something he had posted online. Body camera footage captured the officer’s unease. “I have really no idea what they’re talking about,” he said. When told his post might “insinuate violence,”
Bushart replied, “No, it wasn’t. I’m not going to take it down.”
Just after 11 p.m., officers returned with an arrest warrant accusing him of “threatening mass violence at a school.”
The same footage shows one deputy finishing Bushart’s sentence during the arrest. When Bushart said, “I may have been an asshole, but…” the officer replied, “…that’s not illegal.”
Bushart remained behind bars for 37 days, losing his job and missing family milestones, including his wedding anniversary and the birth of a grandchild. The arrest affidavit omitted key details, including the fact that the meme originated elsewhere and clearly referenced another state. Weems later admitted in an interview that he knew the post was unrelated to Tennessee schools at the time of arrest.
Bushart’s release came only after media coverage drew national attention. The sheriff defended his actions by claiming the post triggered “mass hysteria,” yet public records show no evidence of community panic.
The school district reported no complaints about Bushart’s post, and the county has since declined to produce documentation supporting the sheriff’s account despite multiple public records requests.
The filing asserts violations of both the First Amendment, protecting political and social commentary, and the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unlawful seizure.
Because FIRE contends that Weems and Morrow knowingly overstepped constitutional limits, the suit also targets them personally, making them financially liable if they lose.
Local firm Phillips and Phillips, PLLC, which previously represented Bushart in criminal court, has joined FIRE in the case.
