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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Body camera footage obtained by a local outlet shows a Tennessee police officer interacting with a man who posted a meme on Facebook in response to a Charlie Kirk vigil, hours before the man was arrested.
In the footage obtained by News 2, an officer with the Lexington Police Department said an investigator in Perry County “called me and said that there was some concerning posts that were made on Facebook.”
The officer was sent to the home of Larry Bushart a few hours before his arrest on September 21, News 2 reported.
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Bushart was charged with threatening an act of mass violence at a school, but the charge was dropped on Wednesday. Bushart, a 61-year-old former law enforcement officer, was jailed for over a month before being released.
Newsweek reached out to Bushart’s attorney and the Perry County Sheriff’s Department.
Why It Matters
In a court affidavit obtained by News 2, an investigator said they received a message from Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems regarding a Facebook post Bushart made on the What’s Happening in Perry County, TN Facebook page” in response to a notice about a vigil for Kirk, the late conservative commentator who was fatally shot September 10 on a college campus in Orem, Utah.
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The post was a meme featuring President Donald Trump and the words, “We have to get over it.” The meme says that the quote was from Trump last year after a school shooting at Perry High School in Iowa.
Bushart wrote, “This seems relevant today …,” the outlet reported, citing the affidavit.
Weems told The Tennesseean last month that Bushart posted the picture “to indicate or make the audience think it was referencing our Perry High School.”
What To Know
In the body camera footage obtained by News 2, the officer tells Bushart, “They wanted me to come make contact with you and let you know they may be in contact with you to see if you still live here. Um … I don’t know exactly what they’re referring to.”
Bushart replies, “Oh, I do. Charlie Kirk and ...”
The officer says, “Well, I don’t know. I just know … They just said something was insinuating violence.”
Bushart replies, “No it wasn’t. I’m not going to take it down. Go look.”
The officer leaves Bushart’s home seconds later, News 2 reported.
“I just wanted to touch base with you, let you know what’s going on,” the officer said. “They may be in contact with you.”
Weems previously told News 2 that an investigator with his department reached out to the Lexington Police Department to “approach Mr. Bushart, and provide options to de-escalate the situation before an arrest was made. Mr. Bushart declined to clarify his public messages and calm the situation.”
When the outlet followed up with Weems about his statement that Bushart was offered an opportunity to “de-escalate” and “clarify,” Weems said the investigator’s report says a Lexington police officer “told him that.”
What People Are Saying
Bushart, in comments to WOPC: “Very happy to be going home. I didn’t seek to be a media sensation, but here we are.”
Weems, in comments to The Tennessean last month: “Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community.”
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