A former police officer who was jailed after making social media posts attacking Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk and his organization after Kirk’s assassination in September received more than $800,000 in a settlement.
Larry Bushart, from Tennessee, received $835,000 as part of a settlement with Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems and the “local government,” according to the New York Times.
The settlement came after Bushart “filed a federal lawsuit” at the end of last year after he had been arrested for posting “memes that accused” TPUSA of having perpetrated “hate.” Bushart ended up spending 37 days in jail.
“The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy,” Bushart said in a statement. “I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”
Bushart, a so-called “Facebook warrior,” had “posted a flurry of memes created by others on a community Facebook group” that had been sharing a prayer vigil to honor Kirk, who was fatally shot while speaking to students at Utah Valley University in September.
One of the memes that Bushart was reported to have shared was of President Donald Trump “saying, ‘We have to get over this,’” after a shooting took place at Perry High School in Iowa.
“The original poster” of the meme had also reportedly included the words, “this seems relevant today,” according to the outlet.
Weems claimed that people felt that Bushart had been “threatening the local high school.” In response to the post, the Perry County Sheriff’s Department was reported to have “asked the police department in Mr. Bushart’s hometown to dispatch an officer to visit Mr. Bushart,” according to the outlet.
Bushart, who told the confused police officer that he would not remove his post, was arrested “later that night.”
Breitbart News has reported, in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, several people came out and mocked and celebrated Kirk’s death.
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