Larry Bushart, a man who was jailed for 37 days for reposting a Trump meme, has now sued the cops who allegedly schemed to keep him imprisoned for as long as possible simply because they disagreed with his point of view.
Bushart is a former cop who lost his post-retirement job after a seemingly vengeful sheriff jailed him for trolling a Charlie Kirk vigil post in a Facebook group. Upset that Kirk’s death commanded more attention than other victims of gun violence, Bushart posted a string of memes, among which was an image of Trump with an actual quote saying “We have to get over it” about a 2024 school shooting.
Perry County sheriff Nick Weems has since acknowledged that he “knew” that the meme referenced a prior school shooting. However, the entire time that Bushart was detained, Weems maintained that Bushart’s post incited “mass hysteria” from parents concerned that he was threatening violence at a local high school. Painting Bushart as indifferent to the supposed hysteria, Weems justified his arrest, as well as the $2 million bond ensuring Bushart couldn’t afford bail and remained behind bars.
None of the commenters on the Facebook thread interpreted Bushart’s meme as threatening a school shooting, Bushart’s lawsuit alleged. And so far, no public records show any concerned citizens flagging the meme as violating laws protecting schools. A request to the school district turned up no records, and so far, police have not produced any evidence of the hysteria, either, Bushart alleged.
Instead, it’s alleged that Weems was personally offended by Bushart’s memes, as someone who was using his Facebook account to promote the Kirk vigil that Weems was trolling. Allegedly violating Bushart’s First Amendment rights, Weems sought to use his power as sheriff to punish Bushart for his views, seemingly first angling to have the posts taken down and then allegedly doubling down and pushing for a false arrest.
To get Bushart jailed, Weems allegedly collaborated with an investigator, Jason Morrow, to omit a key detail from the affidavit that served as the entire basis of his arrest. Morrow supposedly left out the fact that the meme referred to a 2024 school shooting, allegedly helping Weems manufacture probable cause. Including that detail would’ve made Bushart’s arrest less likely, as the reviewing magistrate—a nonlawyer who has no legal education—would’ve possibly understood that cops were trying to arrest Bushart for protected speech, his complaint said.