Overview
- Prosecutors filed a nolle prosequi and released 61-year-old Larry Bushart more than a month after his arrest over a Trump meme shared in a local Facebook group.
- Bushart was charged under a 2024 Tennessee statute on threats of mass violence at schools, booked on a $2 million bond, and jailed for roughly 37 to 40 days.
- Sheriff Nick Weems acknowledged the meme contained no explicit threat and referenced Perry, Iowa, but defended the arrest as addressing community fears and Bushart’s refusal to delete the post.
- Body-camera video published by WTVF showed a Lexington officer appeared unsure why Perry County wanted contact and did not mention a school threat during the initial visit.
- The district attorney gave no detailed rationale for dropping the case, while civil-liberties advocates criticized the prosecution as targeting protected speech rather than a true threat.