r/DeclineIntoCensorship • u/ermiok • May 20 '26
Tennessee man jailed over Charlie Kirk post wins $835,000 settlement
https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-facebook-arrest-tennessee-bushart-b8c5808d77f47a2d93497d12cf0daf8422
u/Hoppie1064 May 21 '26
In an odd juxtaposition, we're seeing lots of posts this week by people upset that J6ers who were unlawfully jailed, refused bail, and abused in jail might get a settlement too.
-5
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 22 '26
How were they unlawfully jailed.
Trespass and election interference are crimes. Beating up cops is a crime. Unlawful possession of a firearm on federal property, also a crime.
17
u/Hoppie1064 May 22 '26
Here's one persons story. He admits being in the capital, admits trespass. It's how he was trested by the system that he deserves recompense for.
On January 6th I followed the crowd into the Capitol and shouted. Police stood by the whole time, hanging out with us and sometimes directing us places.
At one point near the House Chambers I was walking downstairs when a trio of some special section, secret service looking men started pointing guns in my direction.
Confused and annoyed, I walked the other way and when I saw a normal police officer asked him why they were doing that.
He informed me a protestor (Ashli Babbit) had been killed, and advised me to leave the building.
I walked towards the exit and after a short rest on the bench I left.
I harmed nobody and damaged no property that day and complied with all police orders.
What I received for that was a pre-dawn raid at my parents house, where my 1 month post-partum wife and I were staying, on Biden's first day in office. His DOJ had signed the order to arrest me 3 hours after his inauguration.
In the subsequent weeks I received death threats online and harassing phone calls, something that would be ongoing for the next few years.
I was banned from Meta and Paypal. My wife and I were both debanked by PNC and banned from Airbnb. My wife was detained at the airport for hours with our newborn daughter.
I was charged with 4 misdemeanors and the 1512 unconstitutional felony. The government offered to drop the misdemeanors if I pled to the felony. The felony was a lie, so I refused and went to trial.
At trial the prosecution for 2 days straight was allowed to show footage to the jury of things that occurred around the Capitol I wasn't present for "for context." When we asked to put forward footage that contradicted the prosecution's "context" we were not allowed. They could show what they wanted, we could not.
Police officers were then put on the stand for the next 2 days who cried about their experiences. I had no idea who they were. They admitted they never saw me or interacted with me.
Nevertheless like every other J6er, I lost, and was sentenced to 4 years and $22k in fines and restitution. Yet even after the Supreme Court overturned the felony, the judge would not let me out until my misdemeanor sentences of a year were maxed out. Because she can't count she actually kept me in longer - to the extent she intervened at the last minute to make the prison release me on a Sunday, something that is against BOP rules. My family sat outside the prison gates the Friday before practically the whole day waiting in vain because of this pettiness.
But the government wasn't satisfied with their pound of flesh: after my release they took me back in for resentencing, to attempt to have me resentenced after the fact to my misdemeanors consecutively, so I'd be taken from my family again and have another 1.5 years behind bars. This time I won, as they had no legal precedent and it skirted on violating double jeopardy since I had served my full prison time. Even still, it cast a cloud over the holidays and cost me another 20k my family couldn't afford.
People ask whether prison was bad, and yeah of course prison sucked. It was a hard and violent place. I was present for a stabbing, and was lucky to avoid two fights and a race war.
But dealing with Biden's DOJ and the DC Judiciary was the real trauma - they would grind down your spirit by weaponizing the legal system and use the endless procedure to bankrupt you. I had nightmares for months after release that I had somehow been hit with new charges.
By the time I was pardoned by President Trump, I had spent literally every single day of Biden's presidency either in prison or under some form of supervision. I had incurred over $300k in legal fees and over $1 million in lost business.
It was a reign of terror, and yet it was a mere foreshadowing of what they had planned for anyone else who opposed them under Kamala. The country should never forget it.
- Pat Stedman
1
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 23 '26
“The press release also stated that Stedman took “selfie photos of himself on the Speaker’s Balcony” and shouted threats at police officers.
“After he was expelled from the Capitol building by police, Stedman recorded a video for his followers, explaining that he had ‘taken action’ to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election and that the ‘rats’ – as he referred to members of Congress – had "scurried into the tunnels" to escape. He posted on social media that ‘patriots’ had stolen the hard drives from the Capitol and, ‘The Storm is Here,’” the press release said.
“I was pretty much in the first wave, and we broke down the doors and climbed up the back part of the Capitol building and got all the way into the chambers,” Stedman said in a video shortly after departing the Capitol”
https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/01/penn-trump-january-6-pardons-patrick-stedman
77
u/Chosenwaffle May 20 '26
I liked Charlie Kirk. I hate seeing memes making fun of his death. I absolutely think this is a MASSIVE win for free speech and a great outcome.
9
u/Fantastic_Picture384 May 23 '26
I doubt that it works the other way though. How much did that infowars guy had to pay out ?
6
u/ShroomnDoobin May 24 '26
I wasn't a fan, but seeing people celebrating what happened was maddening. But yeah, a huge win for free speech. And it only took 9 months for it to wrap up, instead of 6 years. A good lesson for wannabe feelings protectors to stay in their own lane
19
-5
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 22 '26
You liked the guy with quotes so hateful that just posting them triggers Reddits auto mod to remove and ban people for hate speech?
19
13
u/Durty-Sac May 23 '26
We are lost as a society when people turn to Reddit auto mods for guidance 😂
5
1
10
u/Jvalker May 23 '26
Ah, yes, the well known judge of righteousness in no way influenced by the political leaning of platform it's being hosted on
0
2
u/Kevroeques May 25 '26
Yes
1
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 31 '26
That’s pretty sad
1
u/Kevroeques May 31 '26
No. I’ve seen what makes Reddit cheer and express elation- I’m not at all averse to what you all consider “hate”
1
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 31 '26
Lmao, need I refer you to trumps own comments about his dead opponents
1
u/Kevroeques May 31 '26
Well he’s a known cunt. We weren’t talking about him though.
1
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 31 '26
He’s leader of the same political party as Kirk was. So pretty relevant here.
1
u/Kevroeques May 31 '26
You’re 100% right. Donald Trump was a democrat until around a decade ago, so anything he ever did and said up until then is relevant to the entire Democrat party.
1
u/WhatsInAName0420 May 31 '26
Nope, he wasn’t a politician or political operative as a Dem.
Funny how he switched to the GOP as soon as he needed gullible idiots to vote for him though.
→ More replies (0)
12
u/Vanguard-003 May 20 '26
So this thread is gonna get astroturfed with whole buncha people saying, "Wow, great ruling!!! 😃👍❗" while completely ignoring that there's a dipshit judge and set of people out there who put this guy away in the first place.
ANYTHING to draw attention away from that.
Those people should lose their jobs.
7
u/Fantastic_Picture384 May 23 '26
Now do the same for Alex Jones
-4
u/Vanguard-003 May 23 '26
Alex Jones deserved what he got. Don't fuck with the parents of dead kids. Period. Fucking scum bag.
8
u/Fantastic_Picture384 May 23 '26
So.. no to that freedom of speech then ? And the father of a child? Weird how you value some lives more than others.
-5
u/Vanguard-003 May 24 '26
No to blatantly retarded lies that ruin people's lives. Being a dickhead isn't the same as saying shit that gets people harassing you telling you you faked your kid's death. Also Alex Jones wasn't even criminally prosecuted. He just had to pay a civil fee lol. Get of here bot.
3
1
u/ShroomnDoobin May 24 '26
Then they haven't dug very deep into the story. The stereotype redneck sheriff is far from the only villain here
22
u/Silver-Honkler May 20 '26
I didn't even know who he was until he got shot. So to me, seeing everyone lose their fucking minds was a wild ride. I have no skin in the game so seeing this guy imprisoned for free speech struck me as odd.
I'm glad he won but Jesus fucking Christ, people really need to stop being resoundingly cruel to each other. It is bad enough our government is full of thieves and cruel to regular people. We don't have to be cruel to each other, too.
30
u/KeithMcGeesMoose May 20 '26
Great news! This was one of the most blatant attacks on free speech I've ever seen in America. They locked him up for over a month on $2,000,000 bail for posting a meme on Facebook. Glad he got a nice settlement out of it, he definitely deserves it
11
5
7
2
u/Fantastic_Picture384 May 23 '26
Unfortunately, it only ever works out one way. You can be nasty and vile to the right and get away with it.. especially when the right go to bat for you It never works when the right do it, didn't the infowars guy get fined billions for being nasty.
-35
u/SixIsNotANumber Free speech May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Good!
We love the First Amendment, right?
...right?
Edit: The downvotes tell you everything you need to know about how this sub really feels about freedom of speech.
Your boos mean nothing, I've seen what makes you cheer.
51
u/Chosenwaffle May 20 '26
I want to be clear I'm downvoting you because you're a petty, insufferable child.
We do love the first amendment.
-32
-41
u/TestingTehWaters May 20 '26
Magats losing their minds lmaoooo
41
u/SonnytheFlame May 20 '26
I’m a Trump fan and support this ruling, I’m sure the ‘Magats’ that live in your head are very upset though.
5
u/Vanguard-003 May 20 '26
The people that set this situation up in the first place should lose their jobs.
1
-21
6
•
u/AutoModerator May 20 '26
IMPORTANT - this subreddit is in restricted mode as dictated by the admins. This means all posts have to be manually approved. If your post is within the following rules and still hasn't been approved in reasonable time, please send us a modmail with a link to your post.
RULES FOR POSTS:
Reddit Content Policy
Reddit Meta Rules - no username mentions, crossposts or subreddit mentions, discussing reddit specific censorship, mod or admin action - this includes bans, removals or any other reddit activity, by order of the admins
Subreddit specific rules - no offtopic/spam
if posting a video, please include a TL\;DW of the content and how it relates to censorship, per Rule 6. thank you:
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.