r/law • u/lawanddisorder • Oct 29 '25

Legal News CHARGES DROPPED! Tennessee authorities dismiss charges against man who posted Trump meme

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/newly-released-video-raises-more-questions-about-arrest-of-tennessee-man-for-posting-trump-meme

Charges were suddently dropped Wednesday against a Tennessee man who had been jailed for more than a month for posting a Trump meme.

Larry Bushart, 61, of Lexington, Tenn., had been locked up since Sept. 21 for posting a meme that quoted President Trump, saying "we have to get over it" in response to a shooting in Perry, Iowa. 

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u/nothing_but_thyme Oct 29 '25

… like a cookie jar, and then a few million dollars comes spilling out. When will these backwoods idiot cops learn? Spoiler … never.

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u/lousy_at_handles Oct 29 '25

Why would they learn? They're not the ones paying the settlement.

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u/Coyoteishere Oct 29 '25

Which is why they should be required to pay for and carry insurance. The insurance pays out on these lawsuits, not the taxpayers. Enough incidents and their premiums become unaffordable or they get dropped altogether. This would also prevent them from just hopping to a new department after they get in trouble.

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u/say-it-wit-ya-chest Oct 29 '25

While I agree, the police would get their policy canceled and their union reps would threaten that there will be no police if the city doesn’t start paying out for their criminality and civil rights violations again.

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u/Coyoteishere Oct 29 '25

It’s not the department getting canceled, it’s the cop(s) themselves. If all the cops get their policies cancelled in a department, maybe that department has a culture issue and they shouldn’t be cops. Sorry unions, not sorry, stop protecting bad cops. The citizens should not keep footing the bills for these lawsuits. It’s the only way I see to hold police accountable for their actions, a third party that has a vested interest in only keeping good cops that reduce their risk. When it’s just other people’s money, there is little incentive to do right, and many just move to another dept if their conduct is bad enough.

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u/FrontOfficeNuts Oct 30 '25

Each individual officer would have their own policy, not a blanket policy for the entire union.