taez555
7531
418
6
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/tennessee-facebook-arrest-trump-charlie-kirk-b2832831.html
Oct 9, 2025 3:21 PM
taez555
7531
418
6
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/tennessee-facebook-arrest-trump-charlie-kirk-b2832831.html
makesense
Will be tossed quick and the Sheriff is going to owe a ton of money.
ilovetraveler
Brought to you by the "party of free speech."
jfoster7005360
Damn! I be Shartin’ all the time!
circlebreaker
Really applying the scattergun to targeting "political dissidents", huh? Sounds as though 50%+ of the U.S. population is now at risk of legal repression and loss of their 1st Amendment rights.
makesense
Apparently Tennessee hasn't learned: https://reason.com/2023/10/31/tennessee-to-pay-125000-to-settle-lawsuit-by-man-arrested-for-posting-meme-mocking-dead-cop/?nab=0
ArchmageMelek
drduffer
Oh Boy!
I’m in Texas and that’s basically the entirety of all my FB posts!
We can make it a class action suit and basically bankrupt that dumb motherfucker.
circlebreaker
Double down and tell the local Sheriff & PD to cut down on their grocery expenditures by eating shit and blowing each other.
Haishao
It started with "War on Christmas", and now there's ICE and snowflakes everywhere
FridaMercury
They're going to come for all of us.
YouRadicalizedMe
ourari
https://eu.tennessean.com/story/news/2025/09/23/tennessee-larry-bushart-arrest-charlie-kirk/86313013007/
rubypilgrim
well, there's this: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/-took-freedom-speech-away-first-amendment-trump-says-quiet-part-loud-rcna236600
DatDarthCaedus
Funny how this is just yet another thing that I've spent the past 10+ years seeing US Republicans falsely claim online is something that happens "all the time" in my EU home country, and that it would NEVER happen in the US because "it's the only country in the world with real freedom" because of the First and Second Amendment.
Leitzout2
After decades lurking and I finally pop my cherry during No Imgur September, when I'm literally note supposed to post meme's, the next month, they're outlawed.
SquashDemon
First Amendment is dead, this is merely more proof.
FLFrank42
After reading the article I hope his lawyer wins him so much money the county goes bankrupt
Kazpur81S
I’m firmly convinced that “they” have the ability to dump illegal files on someone’s computer as a back up, ya know.
Dimedius
That dude better watch out they might frame a murder on him!!!
YouRadicalizedMe
Yakeshinu
Yeah, unless the article left something out, this should be dismissed pretty quickly. IF it gets to trial somehow, he'll win easily. Either way, he'll probably have decent grounds for a countersuit.
If I had to guess, they knew that going in and the arrest was more about sending a message. Still, you can never know for sure just how nutsy extremists will be, or how far their perceptions are from objective reality.
May be a case worth following.
ChazzK
Don't worry, the government will forgive the government's debt to the civilian.
NotThatPrivate
They don't expect to win, they want to make people afraid to speak out. Chilling free speech used to be something that was vigorously opposed by the Supreme Court, but not so much recently for... some reason
jamesx
How many school children is going to lose their lunch because the millions the city government now need to pay in damages?
Onlyhereforthelaughs
Come and get me.
Euchre
"Others have lost their jobs for making posts on social media condemning Kirk or being unsympathetic toward his death."
If you called for similar acts against others, I could see that being cause to terminate someone, but 'condeming' Kirk? Sounds like free speech to me. As for being unsypathetic - does that apply to ANY death? Could you fire someone for not being 'sympathetic' for deaths of terrorists or gang members?
dogboybastard
United States v SHart...... how appropriate for a 1st Amendment case
pravetz
Nah it’s number two
Buffoonery
Careful there, you might get arrested for that. /s
ChiLLeCheeze
I feel sorry for the guy. Never going to be able to trust a fart.
hotaru251
lawyer would be able to geg him out of jail on day 1.
if they hold him w/o casue (meming isnt a crime) that lawsuit would be glorious.
claytonhadams
Ol' Larry's gonna have himself a nice little lawsuit there, ain't he....
Onlyhereforthelaughs
VoidForScreaming
Tennessee Police: Hi there!
[deleted]
[deleted]
Onlyhereforthelaughs
It's not the felonies that are the reason. You could just as easily replace that with "An orange man" and the meme still works. He wasn't shot because he was orange, it's just the identifier without outright naming him.
psmith00
bwa ha ha ha ha ha. and they still think they have free speech in America.
EleganceIsDead
bippityboppitybuttsex
He literally just posted a quote from the president of the United States.... and the scared little pussies that are the Republican party, took it as a threat.
Such weak men.
YouRadicalizedMe
SuperPickle17
i mean, 90% of what the Trump says is hate speech... so of course anyone not wealthy and connected would be punished for it.
Clockworkdancerobot
People did the "Post what Trump just posted on Twitter and see if I get banned" thing years back.
nezrael
I won't believe for a second that anyone actually took that for a "threat". They are reaching hard to bend this into something they charge him for.
RadioFloyd
Exactly. They are fully aware they’re completely full of shit.
bippityboppitybuttsex
I mean, no threat was made... but just quoting Charlie Kirk was seen as cheering for his death... so, there is no reasoning with these racist, pro-rape, idiots
Mrpipboy3000
Arresting is not convicting .. once this case goes to court and is thrown out, it because legal precedence for the next attempt at stopping free speech. Also might give the dude a nice counter suit for malicious prosecution.
Trimule
(I have a degree from the Google School of Law) What you are talking about is "stare decisis: "to stand by things decided," this doctrine ensures consistency by binding courts to prior rulings unless there are compelling reasons to depart from them, such as when a precedent is unworkable or a higher court has changed the law. Supreme Justice "Uncle" Thomas has just said that it "not "the gospel" and suggesting some may have been based on "something somebody dreamt up and others went along with."
Thornaxe
If you have to go to court to secure a “right”, is it truly a right?
SuperPickle17
except he risks loses his job, be barred from other jobs because the arrest will show up on background checks... Only benefit is he can lawyer up and hope for a big settlement.
Mumalot
he could always run for President, they dont care about background checks there.
TanithRosenbaum
Yea but it intimidates. I think the legal term is "it chills free speech".
taez555
The goal isn't to get a conviction. It's to force people to experience hardships for their speech, thus using him as an example to quell others. Now this man needs to spend time in jail, in court, money he doesn't have, possibly bankrupting him, losing his job, destroying his life.... In the end, years from now, maybe he'll come out ahead, but by then it'll be too late.
Yakeshinu
I think this is the most likely explanation. The article mentions that he's still being held on bond, so he's stuck until he can come up with it.
Oh, and did I mention that the bond was set at (no, this is not a typo) $2,000,000?!?
Here's another link with some more information: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2025/09/23/tennessee-larry-bushart-arrest-charlie-kirk/86313013007/
XXXSpork
^this. Much of what trump is doing is illegal and unconstitutional and he’s losing court cases, but the people targeted get their lives ruined in the mean time serving as a warning to others to get in line or face consequences
StarscreamAndHutch
Chilling effect
NotSomoneElse68
The arrest and time in jail are the point. You have to wait to see the judge. And if you have any kind of prior, the judge may give you bail instead of releasing you. And if you don't have bail - you sit in arrest until the trial. The arrest is the point.
MioTaalas
This is why legal system in USA is idiotic. There should always be systems in place that guarantee freedom until court order and from financial expenses until proven guilty.
Bit no, your nazi politicians have slowly inched all the law to make it possible to scare people with court even if they're innocent...
And there's never consequences for the one who wrongfully abused the system...
Yakeshinu
Ok, this is so nuts that I had to look up this guy's bond (why isn't he out yet, I thought), and when I found it, it was so outrageous that I just about fell over.
$2 MILLION. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, @op.
freshthrowaway1138
Oh fuck you, Independent. You mention that a man was arrested with a gun and a knife at the Kirk memorial outside the arena but fail to mention that Turning Point literally said that he was security for a "known guest"?
fumptrucker
On the other hand, you failed to mention that man did not coordinate with the Turning Point security team or the US Secret Service. And when confronted by a Secret Service agent he falsely claimed to be a law enforcement officer, so was charged with impersonating an officer and carrying a weapon in a prohibited area. BTW, what kind of security officer carries a gun and a KNIFE? https://abcnews.go.com/US/armed-man-arrested-stadium-ahead-charlie-kirk-memorial/story?id=125770798
EchoPMIM
Private security not coordinating with TP security at... a memorial for someone who died because he trusted TP security to protect him? What a shock.
fumptrucker
My point was freshthrowaway1138 was faulting the Independent for leaving out salient facts on a story strictly tangential to the main story while dropping similarly salient facts which countered his sense of indignation.
freshthrowaway1138
No, I didn't leave that out because it wasn't necessary for my point, no that it countered me. They cut out the part that they figured out the situation wasn't threatening. They made it seem like there was a loon with guns at the kirk thing. Yeah, it was a confused situation, but they understood the whole story days before this story was posted; which means they manipulated the article to ensure a higher fear factor.
Breadite
Sorry is his name Shart?
FaeVikingPrincess
Bushart
mikeatike
vurcease
Shart Jr. His father is Shart Sr. When he was young, he was properly referred to as Master Shart.
decyfeRtw
You can literally read the name Larry Bushart on the right side of the screenshot..
Vebrandsson
Bushart according to the article
Imsorrythatwasinappropriate
yes that is where mine come from
PersonalityFire
When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.
literallymike
And according to the post in question, literally in the image.
RadioFloyd
Thank god it’s not Buttshart.
HogulusPrime
Oh, so someone scared his ancestor before they browned their knickers. That explains it.
taez555
Probably just a misunderstanding when his family immigrated to America. The original family name from Germany was Oopsenpoopsen.
tallyhoho
Comment of the week right here
IUpvoteFuturama
That's a common mistake, Sharts is actually derived from the German family name Shatszengiggles.
EmailFail
Made it two posts before I had to rush back and slap upvote
crapybarra
Had to come back to upvote this stupid nonsense. Carry on
Icanhearwhatyouresayingandtheanswerisno
Kann ich bestätigen
morningxafter
pravetz
Poetry
notsurewhattocallthis
Puma Check!
HayseedByte
A man of culture. Feckin pumas
notsurewhattocallthis
I'd hate to puma pants
Slugsie
That's got to be the easiest lawsuit that a lawyer has ever had.
KommanderKayriel
When the law bows to a tyrant, any protections you're hoping for no longer exist. This is why we've always been anti-tyranny, anti-fascism. Because there are NO freedoms under oppression. No protections, no hope. We have to do something.
Slugsie
But I have my right to due process!?
werrywerry
Wow, have you been in a coma or something?
Slugsie
Wow, can no one detect sarcasm anymore?
taez555
Good luck getting in touch with your lawyer from El-Salvador.
MaximilianShade
Dude, they're already trying to destroy that. Kidnapping people and deporting them without even worrying about citizenship. No due process for 'illegal immigrants' means no due process for -you-.
Slugsie
I know, it was sarcasm.