Overview
- A 30-page complaint filed in the Western District of Tennessee seeks a jury trial with compensatory and punitive damages and is backed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression; defendants are Perry County, Sheriff Nick Weems, and investigator Jason Morrow.
- Bushart posted a meme quoting President Trump’s 2024 comment after an Iowa school shooting in a Facebook thread about a local vigil for Charlie Kirk.
- He was arrested on a charge of “threatening mass violence at a school,” held 37 days on a $2 million bond, and released after prosecutors moved to drop the single count in late October.
- The suit alleges First and Fourth Amendment violations, says officers omitted exculpatory context, and notes there is no evidence anyone took the post as a threat or that the local school district logged any related concerns.
- Body-camera footage shows initial police confusion over the post, and Sheriff Weems later acknowledged the meme referenced an Iowa school while claiming the community experienced “mass hysteria.”