Liberal ex-cop jailed on $2M bond after quoting Trump on Facebook: report

A Tennessee man has spent more than a month in jail without trial after he posted a meme quoting President Donald Trump following the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Larry Bushart, a retired law enforcement officer, was arrested by Perry County deputies on Sept. 21 after he allegedly "threatened mass violence at school." He has been unable to post the $2 million bond required for his release.

According to an affidavit obtained by WKRN, Bushart posted a Facebook meme that quoted Trump's remarks following a 2024 mass shooting at Perry High School in Iowa.

"We have to get over it," Trump said at the time. Bushart suggested Trump's remarks were "relevant" to the Kirk shooting.

Sheriff Nick Weems alleged that some parents thought Bushart's meme was a threat to shoot up Perry High School in Tennessee, even though it was clear that Trump was referring to the Iowa shooting.

"This has everything to do with a guy coming onto a Perry County page posting this picture leading people in our community to believe that there was a hypothetical Perry County High School shooting that caused fear in our community – and we done something about it," Weems told NewsChannel 5.

"It's clear that he's not talking about Perry County High School," NewsChannel 5 reporter Phil Williams told Weems.

"We knew," the sheriff agreed. "The public did not know."

Weems said Bushart would not have been charged if he had agreed to take down the post.

"Whenever we sent Lexington Police Department out to speak to him and he refused to do that, I mean, what kind of person does that?" Weems remarked. "What kind of person just says he don't care?"

"Maybe a person who doesn't think he's done anything wrong?" Williams observed.

Chris Eargle, the moderator of a "Free Larry Bushart" page on Facebook, insisted that Weems's remarks were telling.

"If you think it was a threat, why would removing it make any difference?" Eargle noted.