Authorities in Tennessee have dropped a felony charge against a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Whereas many people across the U.S. lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk's death, Larry Bushart's case stood out as one of the few instances where such online speech has led to criminal prosecution.
His arrest — on a charge of threatening mass violence at a school — alarmed free speech advocates, who said Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems had targeted Bushart because of his political views. Bushart was released Wednesday after prosecutors sought to dismiss the charge.
Bushart, a 61-year-old former law enforcement officer, had posted numerous memes on Facebook making light of Kirk's killing.
The one that got Bushart arrested was a meme featuring President Donald Trump and the words, "We have to get over it.” That quote, the meme explained, was said by Trump last year after a school shooting at Iowa's Perry High School.
Posting the meme, Bushart wrote: “This seems relevant today...”
Weems told news outlets that most of Bushart's “hate memes” were lawful free speech, but residents were alarmed by the school shooting post, thinking Bushart was threatening the local Perry County High School, even though Weems said he knew the meme was referencing a school in Iowa.
“Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community,” Weems said in a statement to The Tennessean last month.
He said Bushart was arrested after refusing to delete the post. His bail was set at $2 million.
Bushart spent more than five weeks in jail before being released. Neither Weems nor Hans Schwendimann, the local district attorney, immediately responded to requests for comment on why the charge was dropped.
“Very happy to be going home,” Bushart told WOPC-FM after his release. “I didn’t seek to be a media sensation, but here we are.”
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