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Retired Tennessee Officer Sues Sheriff After Arrest Over Meme in First Amendment Case
A meme shared from his living room turned a retired cop’s Facebook feed into a courtroom fight over free speech and government overreach.
Larry Bushart, a former law enforcement veteran, spent more than five weeks in jail on a two-million-dollar bond after Perry County deputies arrested him for what they claimed was a threatening social media post.
His supposed offense was a meme quoting President Donald Trump’s remarks about an Iowa school shooting, a post that by any plain reading referred to events hundreds of miles away. “I spent over three decades in law enforcement, and have the utmost respect for the law,” Bushart said. “But I also know my rights, and I was arrested for nothing more than refusing to be bullied into censorship.”
With support from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Bushart has now taken Sheriff Nick Weems and Perry County to federal court.
His lawsuit accuses them of abusing their authority, falsifying grounds for arrest, and retaliating against him for constitutionally protected expression.
https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/bushart-v-perry-county-civil-rights-complaint.pdf
Texas Meme Case Crumbles as Satire Beats the State
The collapse of the case marks a sharp rebuke of local authorities’ attempt to criminalize political satire in small-town Texas.
A felony case tied to a satirical political meme has fallen apart in North Texas, with prosecutors formally declining to pursue charges against Granbury journalist and Navy veteran Kolton Glen Krottinger.
His attorney says the arrest and prosecution are now the basis for an upcoming federal civil rights lawsuit.
On December 22, 2025, Ellis County District Attorney Lindy T. Beaty, acting as a special prosecutor after the Hood County district attorney recused himself, issued a written rejection of the online impersonation charge that led to Krottinger’s arrest last fall.
After reviewing the evidence, Beaty concluded the case could not proceed and directed that the charge be dismissed, Krottinger released, and all bond conditions terminated.
The charge arose from a Facebook post shared during a contentious Granbury Independent School District board election.
Krottinger runs a local political commentary page called “Hood County Sheepdogs,” which publishes interviews, criticism of local officials, and political satire.
The page clearly identifies its content as satirical.
In late September, the page published a digitally altered image resembling a Facebook post that appeared to show a local political activist supporting a school board candidate she opposed.
The image was posted under the Hood County Sheepdogs page itself and not from an account using the activist’s name. No separate profile or page was created to pose as her.
Despite those facts, Krottinger was arrested on November 3 and charged with third-degree felony online impersonation.
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Corporations in particular are afraid of lawsuits because they have a lot of money. Sue them first.
But it's also useful to sue the government when they are violating our rights.
A nice suit started by https://www.americasfrontlinedoctors.org/ :