Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

While many people across the U.S. lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk’s death, Larry Bushart’s case stood out as a rare instance in which such online speech led to criminal prosecution. The 61-year-old retired police officer spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October.

During his time in jail, Bushart lost his postretirement job and missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter, according to a federal lawsuit Bushart filed in December against Perry County, its sheriff and the investigator who obtained the arrest warrant.

“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Bushart said in a statement announcing the settlement Wednesday. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”

Perry County Mayor John Carroll did not immediately respond to a Wednesday message left with his office seeking an interview.

Bushart was arrested in September after he refused to take down Facebook memes that joked about Kirk’s killing, which had prompted an outpouring of grief among conservatives, including in Perry County, which is near Bushart’s home and which held a candlelight vigil.

  • godsammitdam@lemmy.zip
    44·
    5 days ago

    “Tennessee officials” aren’t paying shit. Tennessee taxpayers are paying for the officials’ fuckup. Perhaps it should be taken directly from the officials’ private accounts. Why punish taxpayers for the officials infringement on another taxpayer’s rights?

    The officer who arrested him should pay for not refusing an unconstitutional arrest.

    The police chief should pay for not slapping down such an arrest.

    Any officers that were aware of it should pay for not acting to protect the man’s constitutional rights.

    The DA and the judge the signed for any arrest warrant should pay for, again, blatantly ignoring the unconstituionality of this arrest warrant.

    Hold the people who failed the system accountable so they don’t want to fuck up again. None of them give a shit and the taxpayers have to make this man whole rather than the people that harmed him. Contrarily, the taxpayers brought light to the case to try and protect the man.

    American justice at work.