A retired Tennessee law enforcement officer who was jailed for over a month following a Facebook post he made after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has agreed to a $835,000 settlement.

“Larry Bushart was arrested in September 2025 and thrown in jail after posting a meme with the text ‘We have to get over it’ next to an image of Trump,” Collin Rugg wrote. “He was originally charged with threatening mass violence, but the district attorney declined to pursue the charges. Bushart will now receive $835,000 from the county in exchange for dismissing his complaint,” he continued.

While many Americans lost jobs over social media comments about Kirk’s death, Larry Bushart’s case stands out as a rare instance where online speech led to criminal prosecution. The 61-year-old retired police officer spent 37 days incarcerated before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October.

During his imprisonment, Bushart lost his postretirement job and missed his wedding anniversary and granddaughter’s birth, according to a federal lawsuit he filed in December against Perry County, its sheriff, and the investigator who obtained the arrest warrant.

“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Bushart stated in a Wednesday announcement of the settlement. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”

Perry County Mayor John Carroll did not respond to an interview request left with his office.

Bushart was arrested in September after refusing to remove Facebook memes that mocked Kirk’s killing, which triggered widespread grief among conservatives, including in Perry County—a community near Bushart’s home that held a candlelight vigil.

The meme prompting his arrest read: “This seems relevant today…” and featured President Donald Trump alongside the phrase, “We have to get over it.” The quote was attributed to Trump in 2024 following a school shooting at Iowa’s Perry High School.

“No one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because authorities disagree with its message,” said Adam Steinbaugh, a senior attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “We’re pleased Larry has been compensated for this injustice, but local law enforcement never should have forced him to endure this ordeal.”

Bushart filed a federal lawsuit in December against Nick Weems, Perry County’s sheriff, claiming his department willfully misinterpreted a community Facebook post as threatening violence and violated his constitutional rights. The settlement was reached with the sheriff and county officials.

Weems did not respond to requests for comment.

In an interview last year after his release, Bushart—a rare outspoken progressive in central Tennessee’s conservative region—described himself as a “Facebook warrior” who relished confronting individuals online over political opinions. He joined social media discussions following Kirk’s death at a university event in Utah, where he noticed Perry County was organizing a prayer vigil for the founder and shared memes from others on a local Facebook group.