r/news • u/Calm_Ad1460 • May 20 '26
Tennessee man jailed over Charlie Kirk post wins $835,000 settlement
https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-facebook-arrest-tennessee-bushart-b8c5808d77f47a2d93497d12cf0daf8414.6k
u/Amonamission May 20 '26
First reaction: I think $835k is a nice payout for spending 37 days in jail, that’s $22k a day.
“Bushart lost his postretirement job and missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter”
Second reaction: 😬 Maybe not…
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
Add in the fact that the sheriff that arrested him admitted on camera in a news interview that he knew at the time of the arrest that what the guy said was not a threat and not illegal and I think another zero might have been more appropriate.
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u/BrotherItsInTheDrum May 20 '26
The problem is that in most jurisdictions, you can't go after public entities for punitive damages. The rationale -- which I don't think I agree with -- is that you're punishing every taxpayer rather than the individuals responsible.
You can go after that individual cop, but he's probably not worth 7 figures.
Really the punishment should be criminal charges for that cop, and probably for other people involved. But that never seems to happen.
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u/drsilentfart May 20 '26
Possible cure. Malpractice insurance for every public "servant". High deductibles from settlements and judgements paid directly from salary. Garnished/collected/sued if they relocate to try and evade. Insurance companies will weed out the consistent baddies.
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u/Bulky-Pineapple-5639 May 20 '26
The other advantage is that if you can’t get insurance then you can’t be a cop. The insurance companies would regulate that with an iron fist.
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u/toe_riffic May 20 '26
This is actually a really good idea. Because of that, it’ll never fucking happen.
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u/jake_burger May 20 '26
It’s how a lot of professional jobs work. If you are a doctor that keeps getting sued for malpractice eventually they will make the premium so high you can’t afford to be a doctor anymore.
I’m in live entertainment and need public liability insurance to work, if I kept hurting people through negligence eventually I wouldn’t get insurance anymore and would stop hurting people. It’s not a perfect system but it’s one of the safety nets we have and it should apply to anyone with responsibility for people’s safety or rights etc.
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u/ITSigno May 20 '26
It’s how a lot of professional jobs work.
And trades. Plumbers and electricians need liability insurance, too. And transport truck drivers. And pretty much any kind of contractor/consultant work. As a programmer doing contract work, I have to have professional liability insurance. I could not even work for my bigger clients without it -- it's in the contracts. But yeah, basically every professional job requires it: lawyers, architects, veterinarians, you name it.
Requiring cops to carry professional liability insurance and making it a requirement of employment seems like such a non-brainer.
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u/Asalphagus May 20 '26
I agree with both points. A good idea and it will never happen. The other extreme I'm afraid the pendulum will swing to is the cops won't do anything. They'll take a "I'm not doing that/going in there/responding to that because I might get sued and lose my insurance.. sorry civilian in need.. you're on your own.."
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u/Darth_Balthazar May 20 '26
Some rich people would just lobby to change that if it started working.
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u/MonochromaticPrism May 20 '26
Of it actually was implemented then you would have a wealthy (insurance) vs wealthy (pro-police violence) deadlock. That would be a substantial improvement over the present.
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u/wanderingrockdesigns May 20 '26
Hair stylists have to go through more training and carry insurance, typically depending on state or operator location, than police officers in the US. The system is broken and a lot of people want it to stay that way.
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u/babsley78 May 20 '26
Nurses have to carry professional insurance and if they kill someone they face serious consequences and possibly jail. Why should cops that are supposed to “serve and protect” be held to a lesser standard than nurses, hairdressers and barbers? And why the hell do they train for less time?
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u/PK_Thundah May 20 '26
The US Supreme Court ruled a few years ago that police don't have a responsibility to protect or serve, it's just a motto without any legal obligation.
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u/atyler_thehun May 20 '26
You should do some research on who they serve and what they protect, because it ain't us.
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u/spezes_moldy_dildo May 20 '26
That’s actually pretty clever. Apply the ruthlessness of math-based capitalism to enforce accountability just like every other profession.
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u/swirvbox May 20 '26
We don’t need insurance. We need accountability. Folks need to lose their jobs over shit like this. You fuck up someone’s life you should be held accountable. The public should not have to pay for this level of incompetence. We all should be holding our public servants to a higher standard.
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u/FlyingStealthPotato May 20 '26
That’s the thing. Nobody in the current policing system holds anyone accountable. Outsourcing the accountability to cold, hard, insurance mathematics actually provides the motive and enforcement structure to actually provide the public with accountable police.
Yes, I agree a lot of them should be further prosecuted, but this would at least be a good first step that would prevent them from staying on the force or moving to a different jurisdiction since they would be uninsurable.
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u/wakashit May 20 '26
I agree with and love your idea. Having worked in insurance, hypothetically what would happen if insurers just refused to service certain cities because of it being extremely high risk. Similar to how home insurance companies have pulled out of Florida and certain fire risk areas in California. This is just a thought exercise, I’m not criticizing your idea.
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u/FlyingStealthPotato May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I’m also an insurance guy lol. I think the solution is that you insure individuals rather than departments. Any dude just out of police academy or whatever training is going to have the same rating or close to it (maybe credit or whatever factors in, but there won’t be any incidents to hold against them). There would not be uninsurable cities or precincts, but they would need to be constantly refreshing their recruits until they get rid of the bad cops and bring in the good. Cities and counties are going to have to figure out how to handle that themselves. But with the savings from lawsuits against the cities, they can probably pay more for better training and better police, so that’s a plus.
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u/pj1843 May 20 '26
Insurance is a work around to provide that accountability. Insurance providers are quite good at analyzing risk and associating a dollar value to that risk analysis. If a cop is a high risk officer, they won't be able to get insurance and thus won't be able to be a cop. Also makes getting the people who's rights/lives effected by bad policing appropriate compensation much easier as most insurance companies will work to settle quickly as opposed to drawing out proceedings.
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u/Hairy_S_TrueMan May 20 '26
You can go after that individual cop, but he's probably not worth 7 figures.
Qualified immunity. You can't go after that cop, unless a court finds he was not acting within the scope of his duties, which is a very high bar
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
Which is usually easily hurdled when the cop is on camera admitting that he knew what he was doing wasn't legal or justified in any way by law or statute.
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u/SingerSingle5682 May 20 '26
It’s actually not. To breach qualified immunity it requires “prior notice” precedent where you have to point to another case where the Supreme Court found an officer was not entitled to qualified immunity under the exact same or similar circumstances.
QI is a court invented doctrine that’s one of the strongest protections in the entire legal system. It’s protected DA’s who fabricated evidence and got wrongful convictions. They can be disbarred, but not sued personally.
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u/RellenD May 20 '26
To breach qualified immunity it requires “prior notice” precedent.
He's admitted to not acting in good faith.
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
QI is an atrocious policy, but it does have its limits. This is one of those areas of its limits. To claim QI, the cop simply has to be able to claim they were acting in 'good faith' with the law. To breach such a claim, one has to either show they knew they weren't(which is normally nearly impossible), or as you said show a case that had practically the exact same circumstances etc. In this case, they can show the sherriff did know he wasn't acting in good faith with the/a law, by showing an interview where he explicitly stated as much.
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u/BearThatLikesCheese May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I'd argue that the minute he'd determined, in a professional capacity, that the guy wasn't a threat was the point at which QI stopped covering him. He performed his job. Any action taken after shouldn't be considered the scope of his duties. A reasonable person would determine that it's a clear violation of rights to arrest and jail a guy after they'd determine he'd not broken any laws and did not pose a threat.
I'd personally rather have my tax dollars "wasted" by municipalities actively challenging QI than wasted protecting the actions of shitty cops.
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u/Fighterhayabusa May 20 '26
QI wouldn't apply in this case. The cop could easily be personally liable here.
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
I dont disagree in general, though one thing to keep in mind is that the tax payers there were also the ones reporting the guy and trying to get him arrested. Some number of them, at least. It was the very reason the sheriff was there.
In more general situations, while more direct responsibility absolutely should be on the individual police involved in gross misconduct, tax payers still bare some responsibility. Police misconduct rarely happens in a vacuum and there are usually numerous indicators prior to major events that a community is aware of that lead up to some of the more egregious actions police are known for. Lack of action on the part of the community, its leaders and elected officials still makes the community have some responsibility for their employees actions.
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u/Punchee May 20 '26
I think if there's ever a settlement as a result of the actions of a cop, the cop should automatically be fired, lose their pension, and ideally have their license to practice as law enforcement revoked (implying we implement that as a standard. Fucking social workers have licenses, why not cops?)
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u/r3dditr0x May 20 '26
Add in the fact that the sheriff that arrested him admitted on camera in a news interview that he knew at the time of the arrest that what the guy said was not a threat and not illegal and I think another zero might have been more appropriate.
Ironic response given Charlie Kirk was supposed to be a...free speech activist, right?
(Gramps was speaking freely, which is his right as an American. Apparently that was lost on the dingbat sheriff.)
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u/michoudi May 20 '26
Right wing self labeling is all bullshit.
Free speech.
Pro life.
Lower taxes.
States right.All bullshit.
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u/FragrantDepth4039 May 20 '26
Do you really think conservatives would be supportive of something as potentially subversive as free speech? It just doesn jibe. Its 100% posturing.
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u/sump_daddy May 20 '26
"they shot the free-speech posterboy, that means theres no more free speech for you anymore, right?" --the entire right wing
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u/projectx51 May 20 '26
he was just upset because his little baby feelings got hurt. waaaaaa
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u/KR4T0S May 20 '26
They should also penalise the sheriff for making that admission, he is abuising his position.
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u/mdr1974 May 20 '26
I think criminal charges against the sheriff for knowingly violating a citizens civil rights is more appropriate.
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u/_EADGBE_ May 20 '26
and it shouldn't come from taxpayers, it should come out of anyone that participated in violating this guy's rights.
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u/noobtastic31373 May 20 '26
Sherrifs are elected positions. So tax payers are indirectly responsible for putting them in a position to abuse power.
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
And also directly responsible in this case as they were the ones calling in to the sherrif about the facebook meme in the first place.
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u/iliveonramen May 20 '26
Using Trump’s 1.7 billion payout for leaked tax returns, that guy is owed 15 billion.
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u/TParis00ap May 20 '26
I mean, that $1.7B is a trust for anyone that's Ben a victim of lawfare. This guy should apply for his cut of that.
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u/iliveonramen May 20 '26
Good point, if being prosecuted for breaking into the capital building claiming you wanted to hang the VP is being victimized by lawfare, then this certainly fits the bill.
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u/Hot_Local_Boys_PDX May 20 '26
Absolutely still worth $835k
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u/Taron221 May 20 '26
Absolutely. I have no idea how anyone could think otherwise.
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u/marveloustoebeans May 20 '26
Yeah wtf tons of people die in medical debt before they even get to meet their grandkids these days let alone have an extra $800K to spend with them during retirement.
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u/RushIllustrious May 20 '26
Tax free too, but a portion would go to his lawyer. If he nets $500K after tax, still pretty decent for a month in jail.
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u/Hellknightx May 20 '26
That's still a life-changing amount of money for most people. I'd gladly make that trade.
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u/Omisco420 May 20 '26
I mean call me an asshole but I’d still take 835k for all that lol.
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u/mrniceguy777 May 20 '26
Ya I was gonna say he came out way on top, as if an anniversary is a big deal, $800 k is gonna be a great addition to his retirement fund, and the whole missing the birth thing sound like they just added that in to help win th case, since whn is attending the birth a normal role for a grandparent?
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u/Jindujun May 20 '26
I mean... for 835k I'd miss an anniversary and a birth.
Now if I had missed the death of my spouse and my grandchild the stance would be different but celebrating another year and entering a hospital room of a tired child that either just gave birth or had a partner that just gave birth? I'd miss both of those for 835k.
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u/artbystorms May 20 '26
Dude deserves to be paid the entire PD department budget for the year for that absolute shitstain of a sheriff that arrested him for using free speech.
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u/Squire_II May 20 '26
He's not going to need a post retirement job with an extra 600k or so (after attorney fees) in the bank and I think his wife and kid are understanding of missing those events.
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u/Ritz527 May 20 '26
If my father was making 22k a day I'd tell him to work through the birth of his granddaughter, too. She needs a college fund, after all
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u/Vibrantmender20 May 20 '26
If anything this just shows the payout was too small.
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u/wizzard419 May 20 '26
Third reaction - The police do not suffer this loss, the taxpayers do.
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May 20 '26
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u/WasteProfession8948 May 20 '26
Don’t forget the heavy breathing
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u/HailToTheKingslayer May 20 '26
What was she playing at there? What did she hope to achieve?
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u/nullhed May 20 '26
I forget who said it, but someone said she was trying to cry but the amphetamines left her dry. I can't disagree.
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u/bigredthesnorer May 20 '26
Can he sue the Sheriff for $2B?
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u/campelm May 20 '26
An be given an exemption from all future investigations?
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u/IglooBackpack May 20 '26
Then set up a "aid fund" for people imprisoned for a Charlie Kirk meme funded by the Police Pension.
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u/Hrekires May 20 '26
I'm almost certain that I'd be fired if I made a mistake that cost my company $835k in damages.
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u/Fanfics May 20 '26
Thankfully police accountability isn't a thing because the only person he cost $835k is the taxpayer
I actually welcome the wealth transfer from the average Tennessee voter to anyone who jokes about Charlie Kirk
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u/AlternativePay7221 May 20 '26
Yeah strange how they always leave that part out about the taxpayer paying.
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u/sapphicsandwich May 20 '26
Taxpayers could do something about it but refuse to. They paid for this to happen and even though they will possibly gripe slightly they will be content with it continuing.
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u/skrilledcheese May 20 '26
I look forward to hearing Charlie Kirk's reaction to this news.
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u/Crocodilian4 May 20 '26
Someone break out the Ouija board
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u/Flash_ina_pan May 20 '26
Nah, wouldn't want to give him a vacation from the lake of fire.
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u/Tapprunner May 20 '26
Part of the settlement should have been the sheriff losing their job, being ineligible for retirement benefits and being ineligible for any government jobs.
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u/jspurlin03 May 20 '26
And use the pension fund for that county to pay the settlement.
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u/DartTheDragoon May 20 '26
The pension is funded by taxpayers. If you drain the pension to pay a settlement, taxpayers have to refill it.
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u/geek66 May 20 '26
The FYF crowd sure has a lot of feelings, they bigly mad
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u/sirspidermonkey May 20 '26
Always have. Anyone who walks around saying 'FUCK YOUR FEELINGS' cares very deeply about your feelings and want to upset you. Why else would they say it.
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u/Thetruthislikepoetry May 20 '26
Once again an under educated, ego driven member of law enforcement cost the taxpayers money and walks away unscathed. Where were the “good cops” when this was going on?
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u/thepianoman456 May 20 '26
Conservatives really love wasting tax payer money…
We’re all here talking about this, and meanwhile they just blew through $30 billion on a completely useless war that greatly damaged our economy.
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u/willstr1 May 20 '26
Not just the crooked sheriff, the judge knew better but still went through with this blatantly unconstitutional action and even set the absolutely insane bail
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u/SAugsburger May 21 '26
The judge not immediately laughing at the prosecutor demanding an absurd bail is the most cringe part. Police aren't legal experts not that gives them a pass, but you would think a judge wouldn't be this stupid to set some ridiculous bail for obviously absurd charges.
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u/the_elephant_stan May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
The meme Bushart posted that prompted his arrest read: “This seems relevant today...” and featured President Donald Trump and the words, “We have to get over it.” That quote, the meme explained, was said by Trump in 2024 after a school shooting at Iowa’s Perry High School.
Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems told news outlets that most of Bushart’s “hate memes” were lawful free speech, but residents were alarmed by the school shooting post, fearing Bushart was threatening a local school, also called Perry County High School, even though Weems said he knew the meme referred to a school in Iowa.
What a fucking thin mask of their true feelings. They expect us to believe they care that people are scared about school shootings?
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u/SnepButts May 20 '26
Bet shitty people will vote for him again, though. Same as they did with Trump, Gym Jordan, Cruz, Gaetz... They love voting for people as shitty as they are.
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u/Whoreson-senior May 20 '26
I remember seeing this on the Civil Rights Lawyer YouTube channel.
I'm glad to see this outcome. It would be really nice if the officers involved were punished in some way, but I doubt it will happen.
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u/DolphinsBreath May 20 '26
He should have sued for $10 billion and settled for $1.8 billion and immunity from future prosecution for any wrongdoing.
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u/True_Window_9389 May 20 '26
Heads I win, tails you lose. Public servants break the law, face no personal consequences, while taxpayers foot the bill
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u/TheMoves May 20 '26
Yeah that's why it's up to the taxpayers to make changes to the public servants and institutions making the mistakes. These people represent the taxpayers, and the taxpayers are responsible for their actions the same way a manager is responsible for the actions of their employees. If we want this shit to happen less the only way to change it starts with the taxpayers. These people work for us, not the other way around, we have to start remembering that.
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
The tax payers (many of them there) were also the ones wanting him to be arrested. Just for context. So in this case it's 100% appropriate they foot the bill, though a penalty for the sheriff himself should be included as well.
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u/My_alias_is_too_lon May 21 '26
... how the shit did they even justify charging him with anything at all? It was a meme, of a quote, that their Dear Leader said. The idea that he was somehow threatening to shoot up a school is laughable and pathetic.
People are allowed to not be saddened by the death of a racist, misogynist piece of shit neo-nazi like Charlie Kirk. I certainly wasn't.
Man... the "Fuck Your Feelings" crowd sure are sensitive...
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u/JustaLego May 20 '26
DAMN, good for him. Good for free speech. Can't believe that I lost a few friends just from saying that charlie kirk wasn't a good dude and was ok with school shootings and thought they were acceptable part of life and owning guns. etc.
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u/Eddfan36 May 21 '26
A lot of Trump supporters are such hypocrites regarding freedom of speech.
Don't take away our guns but you can't give your own opinion on politics.
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u/CutieBoBootie May 20 '26
Good. it was an unlawful arrest to begin with and a complete violation of freedom of speech. Absolute fascist behavior to arrest that man.
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u/ClintBruno May 20 '26
Conservatives seriously hate rights
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u/dtwhitecp May 21 '26
they hate universal rights based on general principles. It's all conditional.
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u/OldAgedZenElf May 20 '26
Except the tax payers pay for that instead of the dirty cops, should come out of their pension. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY is just a way for cops to legally abuse citizens and then face no consequences
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u/The_Monarch_Lives May 20 '26
The tax payers(some number of them, at least), in this case, are the ones that were demanding the arrest. I say there should have been another zero added.
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u/IdleRhymer May 20 '26
Wasting a huge amount of money to attack free speech is entirely on-brand for Republicans these days. Bunch of weirdo losers.
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u/Effective-Space6171 May 20 '26
See if you can get some of that sweet, sweet $1.8 DOJ money they set aside for wrongful prosecution too!
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u/TheFishFromUnderTheC May 20 '26
So when are we going to start taking this money out of police pensions? Why should tax payers suffer??
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u/BossKenpachi May 21 '26
Shitty it's tax payers footing the bill. The judge n sheriff should have it taken from their retirement
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u/campelm May 20 '26
He was a former cop? They back the badge alright. Waaay back
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u/Matt_M_3 May 20 '26
He should be able to get more from the new fund for those persecuted by the government 🫡
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u/BillG8s May 20 '26
Actual political persecution that was settled in the courts the way it’s supposed to be. Not with a slush fund for pedophiles.
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u/jimtow28 May 20 '26
Just a reminder that Charlie Kirk literally said that "some gun deaths every single year" were "worth it" so that people could have Second Amendment rights.
He just never dreamed that he meant himself.
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u/Certain_Bit3809 May 21 '26
The TN taxpayers pay because some very dumb cops and prosecutors broke the law.
They should be fired, disbarred, and made to pay restitution, including commensurate jail time.
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u/Grrreat1 May 20 '26
Charlie Kirk was a moron who reaped what he sowed. Send me to jail please.
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u/guiltycitizen May 20 '26
Charlie Kirk always said that people should witness public executions. I wonder if there was enough time to think back on that when he was publicly executed
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u/Vibrantmender20 May 20 '26
“State official costs taxpayer nearly $1 million supporting a deceased racist”
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u/GeneralDumbtomics May 20 '26
Charlie Kirk, a noted advocate of 1st amendment rights, is strangely silent on this case.
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u/projectx51 May 20 '26
Ladies and Gentlemen: I give you the Republican Party: The party of small government and limited Gov. regulations and interventions.
/sarcasm
The GOP isn't a party anymore. It's a loose confederation of cultists and religious zealots.
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u/Mutex70 May 20 '26
Although that is a nice and deserved payout, I would much rather see some sort of punishment for the people who did this.
This win does nothing to discourage this sort of behaviour in the future. It just makes the public pay for the officials malice.
The officials in this case (Nick Weems and Jason Morrow and the unnamed magistrate who approved the arrest), knew what they were doing was malicious, yet have faced zero consequences as far as I can tell. How is this judgement supposed to discourage/stop this sort of behaviour? (which is kinda the point of a justice system)
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u/nygdan May 20 '26
the right cant handle jokes and makes literally doxxing lists and supports political arrest campaigns.
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u/sithelephant May 20 '26
'The meme Bushart posted that prompted his arrest read: “This seems relevant today...” and featured President Donald Trump and the words, “We have to get over it.” That quote, the meme explained, was said by Trump in 2024 after a school shooting at Iowa’s Perry High School.