Perry County has agreed to pay $835,000 to settle a federal civil‑rights lawsuit brought by a Lexington man who spent 37 days in the county jail after being arrested over a Facebook meme. The settlement, announced Wednesday, resolves claims that Sheriff Nick Weems and a county investigator trampled on Larry Bushart’s First Amendment rights by pushing for an unusually steep $2 million bond that kept him locked up. Bushart’s attorneys say that an extra month behind bars cost him a post‑retirement job and robbed him of key family milestones.
As first reported by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Bushart posted the meme in a local Perry County Facebook group after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The image paired a photo of President Trump with a quote about a 2024 Perry High School shooting in Iowa, alongside the caption, "This seems relevant today." In an exclusive interview, Sheriff Weems admitted that investigators knew the meme referred to a school in Iowa. "We knew," Weems told the station, but added that "the public did not know," an acknowledgment that set the stage for Bushart's release the next day.
Settlement and reaction
Perry County agreed to the $835,000 payout, which will end the federal suit, according to AP News. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which helped represent Bushart, hailed the deal as a vindication and warned that turning political speech into a crime chills public debate. The organization has been publicly pressing the county over the arrest for months (FIRE). Under the agreement, Bushart will drop his civil‑rights claims against Sheriff Nick Weems and investigator Jason Morrow, his attorneys say.
How the arrest unfolded
Local deputies arrested Bushart in late September after he posted several memes, and a magistrate set a $2 million bond he could not afford. That decision left him sitting in jail for 37 days until prosecutors dropped the charge in October, The Washington Post reports. The arrest affidavit cast the post as a threat to a school even though the meme cited a shooting in Iowa, and Bushart's complaint argues that the investigator left out that crucial context when applying for the warrant. Civil‑rights lawyers say the case shows how vague affidavits and sky‑high bail can function as a punishment for speech without any conviction.
What this means for speech and policing
Legal observers have focused on Tennessee's threat statute and recent Supreme Court guidance on what qualifies as a "true threat." The lawsuit leans on Counterman v. Colorado to argue that Bushart lacked the required intent, as Reason reports. Bushart’s lawyers say the settlement avoids a long, expensive federal trial while still delivering compensation and a public record that the arrest was misplaced. County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the payout.
