Robert G. 리트윗함
Larry Bushart spent 37 days in jail for posting a meme on Facebook.
I’ve been doing this work for 25 years, and I can honestly say this is the worst First Amendment case I’ve ever seen.
Not because Larry threatened anyone. He didn’t. Not because he committed violence. He didn’t. Not because this was a close call. It wasn’t.
He posted a political meme — the kind of thing millions of Americans do every day — and local officials decided to treat it like a crime.
And because they had badges, prosecutors, jail cells, and the terrifying machinery of the state behind them, they got away with it for 37 days.
Larry is a retired police officer and National Guard veteran. The meme he shared quoted Donald Trump’s “we have to get over it” comment after a 2024 Iowa school shooting. Whatever you think of Trump, the meme was plainly political commentary. Perry County officials knew what it referred to. They knew it wasn’t a threat against a Tennessee school.
They arrested him anyway.
In the middle of the night.
They set his bond at $2 million.
He lost his job. He missed family milestones. He sat in jail for more than a month before the charges finally collapsed — because, of course, there was no crime here.
Today, @theFIREorg secured a measure of justice: Perry County agreed to pay Larry Bushart $835,000 for violating his constitutional rights.
This case should scare the hell out of people across the political spectrum.
Because if the government can jail you for a meme by pretending not to understand obvious political commentary, your rights are only as secure as the good faith of the most authoritarian official in your town.
That is exactly why we have the First Amendment. Not for speech everyone likes. Not for opinions that flatter the powerful. Not for the bland, safe, committee-approved stuff.
It exists for moments when fear, outrage, politics, and authority all line up and say: “Surely this is the exception.”
No. It isn’t.
I’m incredibly proud of @theFIREorg’s legal team. And I’m even prouder of Larry Bushart for refusing to let the government get away with treating his constitutional rights like a suggestion.
But despite the correct verdict, I'll probably always get angry every time I think of this case.
Let’s make this the last time anyone in America is arrested — let alone thrown in jail — for a meme.
Celebrate your independence. Defend your First Amendment.
fire.org/news/victory-t…
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