Retired police officer Larry Gene Bushart Jr. has won an $835,000 settlement after he was jailed for 37 days for sharing a meme featuring President Donald Trump.
Bushart reached a settlement last week with Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems and Investigator Jason Morrow, ending his lawsuit against local authorities over the arrest.
“The Local Government Property and Casualty Fund on behalf of Defendants agrees to pay in compromise and settlement of disputed claims, and Plaintiffs agree to accept in full accord and satisfaction of their claims, the total amount of Eight-Hundred Thirty-Five Thousand and 0/100 dollars ($835,000.00),” the settlement states, in part.
“This total payment of $835,000.00 is the complete payment by Defendants and no further claims for damages (whether compensatory, liquidated, or punitive), expenses, filing fees, discretionary costs, or attorneys’ fees related to the Lawsuit shall thereafter be asserted by, or awarded to or on behalf of, Plaintiffs.”
Bushart was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit legal group that specializes in First Amendment cases, along with Phillips & Phillips, PLLC.
“No one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because the authorities disagree with its message,” FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh said in a statement Wednesday.
“We’re pleased that Larry has been compensated for this injustice, but local law enforcement never should have forced him to endure this ordeal in the first place.”
Shortly after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September, Bushart shared a meme on Facebook featuring a quote from Trump after a school shooting in which the president said, “We have to get over it,” with Bushart adding that he believed the quote “seems relevant today.”
Local authorities interpreted the meme as a threat against a local high school. Bushart was arrested on Sept. 21 and spent 37 days in jail.
According to FIRE, Bushart missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of a grandchild while he was behind bars, and he also lost a post-retirement job. He was eventually released following public outcry.
Last December, Bushart filed a complaint against Weems, Morrow and Perry County over the arrest, arguing that it violated the First Amendment.
“I spent over three decades in law enforcement, and have the utmost respect for the law,” Bushart said in a statement released through his attorneys last year. “But I also know my rights, and I was arrested for nothing more than refusing to be bullied into censorship.”
