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in officers Tennessee Felony charges have been dropped against a man who was jailed for more than a month Facebook He posted about the murder of a conservative activist charlie kirk,
While many people across America lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk’s death, Larry Buschart’s case stood out as one of the few instances where such online speech led to criminal prosecution.
His arrest – on charges of threatening mass violence at a school – alarmed free speech advocates, who said Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems had targeted Buschert because of his political views. Bushart was released Wednesday after prosecutors sought to dismiss the charges.
Bushart, a 61-year-old former law enforcement officer, had posted several memes on Facebook highlighting Kirk’s murder.
What got Buschart arrested was a meme featuring the President donald trump And the words, “We have to get through this.” The meme states that this quote was said by Trump after a school shooting last year. iowaPerry High School.
Posting the meme, Bushart wrote: “This seems relevant today…”
Weems told news outlets that most of Bushart’s “hateful memes” were legitimate free speech, but residents were concerned by the school shooting post, thinking Bushart was threatening the local Perry County High School, although Weems said he knew the meme was referencing a school in Iowa.
“Investigators believe that Bushart was fully aware that his posts would instill fear and that he intentionally tried to create hysteria within the community,” Weems said in a statement to The Tennessean last month.
He said Bushart was arrested after refusing to remove the post. His bail was set at $2 million.
Buschart spent more than five weeks in jail before being released. Neither Weems nor local District Attorney Hans Schwendimann immediately responded to requests for comment on why the charges were dropped.
“Very happy to go home,” Bushart told WOPC-FM after his release. “I didn’t want to be a media sensation, but here we are.”