PERRY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nearly a month after prosecutors dropped a felony charge against a retired police officer who spent more than a month in jail over a controversial Facebook comment, the officer is now preparing to sue the local officials who arrested him.
Larry Bushart, 62, commented in a Perry County, Tennessee Facebook group beneath a post shared by a resident. The post was a memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Bushart responded to the post with a comment referencing a remark President Donald Trump made following a 2024 school shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, which is about 700 miles away from Perry County, Tennessee.
“We can only assume that Sheriff made the decision to arrest Larry because the name of the Iowa High School and the name of his county are similar,” said David Rubin, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the national civil liberties group representing Bushart.
The retired officer was arrested in September on a warrant for “threatening mass violence at a school.”
Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems later said Bushart’s comment caused “multiple, reasonable citizens to fear for their children’s safety.”
Bushart’s bond was set at $2 million.
“I have a hard time figuring out why he was on a $2 million bond,” Rubin said. “That is incredibly high for any offense, especially given these facts.”
Prosecutors dropped the charges last month, stating the comment did not constitute a threat under Tennessee law. Bushart’s legal team is now preparing a civil rights lawsuit, arguing his arrest violated his First Amendment rights.
“We should resolve our disagreements with words,” Rubin said. “Not by arresting people and throwing them in jail.”
Bushart’s legal team has filed a public records request seeking documentation of the numerous complaints the sheriff cited as justification for Bushart’s arrest. The team said the county has not given the records within the timeframe required under Tennessee law.
The lawsuit is expected to be filed early next year.