The Daily Populous Friday October 31st, 2025 day edition
Authored by the-independent.com and submitted by SterlingVII

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Charges have been dropped against a Tennessee man who has been behind bars for more than a month after posting a meme featuring Donald Trump in a group setup as a memorial for slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

Larry Bushart, 61, from Lexington, Tennessee – about 110 miles from Nashville – was booked into jail on September 21 for posting a meme quoting President Donald Trump when he responded to a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa, saying, “We have to get over it.”

Bushart posted the meme on Facebook and organized a vigil after Kirk's death. He captioned it, “This seems relevant today.”

open image in gallery Larry Bushart Jr was arrested and charged with making threats of mass violence against a school after posting a meme in a Facebook group that was organizing a vigil for Charlie Kirk. ( Perry County Sheriff's Office )

However, members of the group interpreted Bushart’s post as a threat against their local high school, which is also called Perry County High School.

“Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community,” Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems told The Tennessean.

Bushart was then arrested and charged with making threats of mass violence on school property and activities.

However, Weems told NewsChannel 5 on Wednesday that the “charges were [dropped] about 15 minutes ago.”

The dropping of the charges came after NewsChannel 5 aired an interview on Wednesday with Weems in which he admitted that investigators knew the meme was not about a school shooting, but authorities were responding to community anxiety.

open image in gallery Kirk was assassinated in September while speaking at a college campus in Utah. ( Getty Images )

Further, NewsChannel 5 obtained footage showing a Lexington officer speaking to Bushart, admitting he was unsure why police were interested in his meme posting.

“So, I’m just going to be completely honest with you, I have really no idea what they are talking about, he had just called me and said there was some concerning posts that were made,” the officer said to Bushart.

Bushart confirmed that posts had been made on Facebook but, bemusedly, questioned why the police were being sent to his house over them.

The officer responded: “They wanted me to come make contact with you and let you know that they may be in contact with you and see if you still live here. I don’t know exactly what they are referring to you.”

Bushart replied, “Oh, I do, Charlie Kirk,” as he refused to take the post down. Weems later said he would not have been arrested in the first place if he agreed to delete the meme.

Due to being imprisoned for more than a month, Bushart reportedly lost his job in medical transport.

His arrest is one of many to occur in connection with the fallout from Kirk’s death.

Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on a college campus while speaking to students about conservative ideology. The person suspected of killing Kirk is currently in custody and charged with several crimes, including aggravated murder.

mr-french-tickler on October 30th, 2025 at 16:44 UTC »

> [Sheriff] Weems later said he would not have been arrested in the first place if he agreed to delete the meme.

Wet_Side_Down on October 30th, 2025 at 16:33 UTC »

Certainly hope he sues for damages resulting from false imprisonment

AssociateGreat2350 on October 30th, 2025 at 16:31 UTC »

Held in jail without charges till he lost his job

And they wonder why we keep using words like fascist or authoritarian.