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Seemingly, Weems hoped the threat of arrest would pressure Bushart into removing the post, but Bushart refused to be censored.
Video from the arrest shows that Bushart told the arresting officer he never made such a threat, and some cops at the jail seemed similarly confused about the basis of his arrest. In one exchange caught on footage reviewed by The Intercept, Bushart even shared a laugh with an officer over how silly his arrest seemed to be:
“Just to clarify, this is what they charged you with—Threatening Mass Violence at a School,” a Perry County jail officer told Bushart.
“At a school?” Bushart asked.
“I ain’t got a clue,” the officer responded, laughing. “I just gotta do what I have to do.”
“I’ve been in Facebook jail, but now I’m really in it,” Bushart said, joining him in laughing.
Weems later admitted that “he knew at the time of the arrest that Larry’s Facebook post was a pre-existing meme that referred to an actual shooting that took place in a different state, over 500 miles away,” FIRE said. But he arrested Bushart anyway, violating Bushart’s “constitutional rights in retaliation for his protected speech,” FIRE said.
FIRE noted that Bushart is one of 600 people that Reuters found were punished for making controversial online statements about Kirk’s death, following a government-backed campaign targeting political speech. Bushart’s win shows that the First Amendment can stand up to censorship attempts, FIRE staff attorney Cary Davis suggested.
“It’s in times of turmoil and heightened tensions that our national commitment to free speech is tested the most,” Davis said. “When government officials fail that test, the Constitution exists to hold them accountable. Our hope is that Larry’s settlement sends a message to law enforcement across the country: Respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow.”
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