Tag: tennessee

Tennessee man jailed for Charlie Kirk meme wins $835,000 settlement

Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired police officer, was arrested in September after sharing memes on Facebook about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Tennessee officials have now agreed to pay $835,000 to settle the lawsuit filed by Bushart against Perry County, its sheriff, and the investigator who obtained the arrest warrant.

Bushart’s case drew national attention because, while many people across the U.S. reportedly lost jobs over social media posts about Kirk’s death, his was a rare case where online speech led to criminal prosecution. Authorities later dropped the felony charge against him in October.

The post that prompted Bushart’s arrest featured President Donald Trump and the words “We have to get over it,” referencing a remark made in 2024 after a school shooting at Perry High School in Iowa. AP reported that the meme was posted with the caption: “This seems relevant today…”

Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems said last year that most of Bushart’s posts were lawful free speech, but claimed residents were alarmed by the school shooting reference because there is also a Perry County High School in Tennessee. However, Weems also said he knew the meme referred to the Iowa school shooting.

“Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community,” Weems said in a statement to The Tennessean last year.

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Racist streamer ‘Chud the Builder’ charged with attempted murder for shooting outside court

Racist streamer “Chud the Builder” has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting someone who confronted him outside a Tennessee courthouse, officials said.

The streamer — real name Dalton Eatherly, 28 — shot an unidentified man during a fight Wednesday outside the courthouse in Clarksville, according to District Attorney Robert J. Nash, who said Chud also accidentally shot himself during the fracas.

Eatherly, who amassed an online following by filming himself spewing vile racial slurs to get reactions, was in court for a civil case over unpaid debts, just days after he was arrested for skipping out on a $400 restaurant bill while refusing to stop streaming.

He livestreamed from the shooting scene, blaming his gunfire on the other man — who was black, according to witnesses — confronting him over his vile online content.

He said the man and others were “laughing” as he walked by — and threatened to hit him if he started spouting his racist ideologies.

“He said, ‘You start saying all that chimp out s–t to me and ‘imma hit you,’ and he hit me, he started whaling on me,” Eatherly, who has multiple videos online referring to black people as chimps, said in the video, CNN reported.

Then Eatherly bizarrely tried to pin blame on “rich people” goading strangers into harming him. “They’re all publicly saying ‘If y’all assault this guy, we’ll make you rich.’ The f–k,” he said.

The victim was medically evacuated by LifeFlight and is recovering in stable condition, officials said. 

Eatherly also suffered what’s been described as a “graze” wound on his arm and Nash said it appears he accidentally shot himself during the fracas. He was detained at the scene.

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Rutherford County Library ‘Book Ban’ Investigation: Books Moved, Director Fired

The library board voted that a collection of children’s books featuring LGBT content was to be pulled from the shelves of the Rutherford County, Tenn., library’s children’s section. The books in question would be transferred to the adult section, but the library would not remove the titles altogether.

Former library director Luanne James intentionally left the books in the children’s section instead, keeping them there because of her First Amendment-related beliefs. Ms. James was fired as a consequence of intentionally disobeying the library board’s decision.

The board met to resolve the book issue on March 16, and Ms. James lost her job on March 30.

Oddly enough, she had just been onboarded in July 2025 and moved to the Rutherford County Library System from the York County Library System in South Carolina. The library found an interim director to replace Ms. James until someone applies to take her position. 

Sixty-three percent of Rutherford County residents are Christian, but a tiny 8% of the full U.S. population is LGBT, as per the Pew Research Center.

A growing population does not enjoy LGBTQIA+ themes in books whose target demographic is children. Heather Cook, who lives in Rutherford County, claimed to be “standing for the truth in opposition to the deception of transgender ideology and gender confusion.” Fellow Rutherford County citizen Emily Adams said, “If parents want their children to have access to these books, they don’t even need to go to the library. They can buy it on Amazon, or they can check them out themselves and bring them home.” 

From Richard Land’s Christian Post article, county news reports, and the Pew Research Center, one may infer that many Christians in Rutherford disapprove of surprise LGBT themes in reading materials. 

Rutherford is conservative and the fifth-largest Tennessee county as of 2026. This county is close to the metropolis of Nashville and includes bustling, populous cities, such as Murfreesboro and Smyrna. Of all Rutherford County’s cities, Murfreesboro has the largest population. 

Interestingly, 66.1% of Rutherford County citizens voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election cycle. At that time, Rutherford was the fourth-largest county. 

According to the Associated Press and the Christian Post, 132 books were relocated.

One rough count taken from the Rutherford County Library Board meeting minutes contained 124 books total and the motivations behind the censorship. Almost all of them were censored on the grounds that the content “promotes gender confusion,” and approximately 79% of those books were specifically flagged for LGBT themes. Eight other books were censored for violent passages, while an additional 10 were removed for mature themes.

The meeting minutes handout contained 33 pages of large spreadsheets organizing the books by reasons for censorship and their target demographics. The spreadsheets were each a page wide. 

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FURIOUS Democrats in Tennessee Demand SECESSION of Memphis from the State in Epic MELTDOWN After Republicans Erase Last Race-Based Democrat Stronghold

After Tennessee Republicans rammed through a new congressional map that dismantles the state’s lone Democrat-held congressional district centered in Memphis, at least one furious Democrat is now openly floating the idea of Memphis seceding from the Volunteer State altogether.

Tennessee State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), apparently unable to stomach the political reality of a deep-red Tennessee exercising its legislative authority, called for Memphis to separate from the state following the explosive redistricting battle.

As The Gateway Pundit reported just days ago, all hell broke loose in the Tennessee House when Republicans passed a new congressional map eliminating the state’s only majority-Black, Democrat-held district in Memphis.

The map, now signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee, cracks up Shelby County and spreads those heavily Democratic voters into three Republican-leaning districts stretching into rural and suburban areas.

A potential 9-0 Republican sweep in Tennessee’s congressional delegation, exactly what fair maps and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling against race-based mapmaking were designed to achieve.

The 9th District will now potentially see Rep. Steve Cohen, a white Democrat, likely replaced by Charlotte Bergmann, a black female Republican.

But the sore-loser Democrats can’t handle it. Instead of accepting the will of the people and the rule of law, they’re throwing the ultimate hissy fit: secession.

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Ironic: Tennessee’s New “Racist” 9th District Will Likely Have Black Woman Replace a 76-Year-Old White Democrat

While Democrat activists occupied the Tennessee state Capitol yesterday after a vote to redraw the congressional maps following the historic Supreme Court decision in Louisanna v. Callais, a key point of irony stands out.

Yesterday, The Gateway Pundit reported on the vote that sparked pandemonium on the floor of the capitol building yesterday, as a radicalized state representative belittled State Troopers maintaining order, calling him “BOY!” and “mother f*****”, while others burned Confederate flags in the halls of the building.  But one likely outcome of the redrawn map cannot be ignored:

The 9th District will now potentially see Rep. Steve Cohen, a white Democrat, likely replaced by Charlotte Bergmann, a black female Republican.

Bergmann has previously run against Cohen in several elections dating back to 2014; however, with the new map being implemented, she has a much higher likelihood of winning the district that had previously been drawn to comply with a now-unconstitutional Voting Rights Act provision.

Bergmann is facing two GOP opponents in the primary election on August 6.

The NAACP has already filed an emergency petition to attempt to block the redistricting in hopes of keeping the white man in his seat over a black woman.  What a script!

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Tennessee Democrat State Senator Stands on Desk, Fights with Sergeant at Arms After Republicans Pass New Congressional Map Eliminating Dem District

All hell broke loose on Thursday after Tennessee Republicans passed a new congressional map eliminating the only Democrat district.

Tennessee’s Republican-led House passed the new map that eliminates the state’s only majority-black district in Memphis.

Shortly thereafter, the State Senate passed the congressional map.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the new map into law.

NBC News reported:

Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature passed a new congressional map splitting up the state’s lone majority-Black district, swiftly responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s major redistricting ruling last week.

The redrawn district lines, which Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign into law, put Republicans in position to gain a seat in this fall’s midterm elections and secure full control over Tennessee’s congressional delegation.

The new map carves up a Memphis-based seat held by longtime Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., into three districts, spreading the Democratic voters into more rural, Republican districts that stretch hundreds of miles east. It also further splits the Nashville metropolitan area, the state’s other Democratic stronghold, into five districts.

The long districts run across cross Tennessee’s distinct geographic regions and tie voters from different media markets and time zones together to achieve the desired partisan impact.

Democrat state lawmakers didn’t take it too well.

State Senator Charlane Oliver stood on a desk and got into a tug-of-war with the Senate Sergeant at Arms over her banner that read, “No Jim Crow 2 Stop the Steal.”

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Rep. Tim Burchett Calls for JAIL TIME for Radical Democrat Justin Pearson After He INTIMIDATED State Trooper During Redistricting Meltdown

The radical left’s favorite screaming agitator is at it again.

Far-left Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), the same serial disruptor who helped lead an insurrection inside the Tennessee State Capitol back in 2023 alongside the rest of the “Tennessee Three,” was caught on camera aggressively intimidating and cursing out a Tennessee Highway Patrol state trooper during Thursday’s chaotic special session on redistricting.

Video footage from the Tennessee State Capitol shows Pearson getting right in a state trooper’s face as officers attempted to remove disruptive protesters, including Pearson’s own brother, Keshaun Pearson, from the House gallery after Speaker Cameron Sexton ordered it cleared. Pearson, true to form, exploded in a profanity-laced tirade:

“MOVE THE FCK BACK! BOY!! What the f is wrong with you? You stupid motherf***r!”

He shoved the trooper’s arm away and continued berating the officer while trying to interfere with his brother’s removal.

Rep. Burchett didn’t mince words. In a direct response on X, the Congressman laid it out crystal clear:

“He needs to go to jail.”

Under Tennessee law, verbally threatening a law enforcement officer, including a state trooper, can constitute criminal harassment or assault.

Interfering with an officer’s duties, such as by obstructing them or refusing to comply with lawful orders, is also a crime, often charged as resisting arrest or obstruction.

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FBI Investigates Tennessee Democrat Rep. for Allegedly Operating Fraudulent PAC That Scammed Donors on Behalf of Kamala Harris

A Democrat lawmaker in Tennessee is now under federal investigation in what could become yet another explosive scandal tied to the political fundraising machine of the Left.

According to new reporting, Tennessee State Rep. Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) is being probed by the FBI over allegations involving a potentially fraudulent political action committee (PAC).

The PAC, called WIN TENNESSEE PAC, with Harris serving as treasurer, was promoted aggressively on Harris’s own Facebook page during Kamala’s disastrous 2024 presidential bid, according to Nashville Banner.

The now-defunct website promised donors their money would fund trips to battleground states like North Carolina and Georgia, statewide advertising, and weekly organizing calls. It even claimed physical offices in Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville.

None of it was real.

The website used a fake phone number (123) 456-7890, listed nonexistent field offices, and directed donations to a P.O. Box (later changed to a UPS Store address in Nashville).

A tiny disclaimer buried on the site admitted the PAC was not affiliated with Kamala Harris’s campaign, but that didn’t stop Harris from using her name to solicit cash from unsuspecting donors.

According to a bombshell report from the Nashville Banner citing multiple sources inside Tennessee Democrat politics, the FBI began asking questions about the PAC early in 2026. The probe also reportedly includes Harris’s mysterious personal business ventures.

The PAC never filed required FEC reports on time. It received three separate delinquency letters from the Federal Election Commission between October 2024 and January 2025. Only after the federal investigation was underway did Harris reportedly file, in late March 2026.

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Tennessee lawmakers pass bill allowing deadly force to defend property

In Tennessee, a stolen item could soon cost someone their life under a bill that’s now headed to the governor’s desk.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Kip Capley (R-Summertown) and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) would allow people to use deadly force to protect their property if they believed they had no other option and there was a serious threat to human safety.

“Right now under current law, if someone is breaking into your property, if they’re stealing from you, if they’re destroying what you’ve worked your entire life to build, you’re expected to wait,” Capley said. “You’re expected to hesitate. You’re expected to second-guess and take a calculated risk at defending what’s yours.”

Democrats pushed back on the legislation.

“The reason we were taught you don’t kill people over property is because they are not putting at risk an innocent human life,” Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said. “What this legislation seems to be doing is lowering that threshold significantly and substantially, and the department is going to have to reteach in future classes for those who get their lifetime permit that you can now kill people over property, and I don’t think that is right.”

Even some Republicans expressed their concerns. Rep. Greg Martin (R-Hixson) told lawmakers on the House floor he was worried the bill could justify someone shooting an older person with dementia who unknowingly was in the wrong place just because the person believed they were going to act nefariously.

“The Good Book says that it’s an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, and what that really is given to humanity for is to restrain us from going after someone in a greater way than they have harmed us,” Martin said. “My concern is, Rep. Capley, what I’m hearing you say is that if someone is stealing from you — not harming you in the sense that they’re going to kill you — but if they’re stealing from you or your property or maybe they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, then you could do something more than an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth.”

However, Capley defended his legislation and argued someone shouldn’t have to stand idly by while a criminal steals their life’s work.

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‘Insulting’: AES sent victims’ family $50 gift card, T-shirt in wake of deadly TN explosion, attorney says

Attorneys for the families of two victims in last year’s deadly munitions plant explosion are condemning Accurate Energetic Systems’ “reckless” behavior before the tragedy and the company’s “insulting” response.

In a Thursday press conference, the legal team representing the families of victims Steven Wright and Reyna Gillahan said Accurate Energetic Systems rejected their $150 million pre-litigation demand. Their rejection came 45 minutes before the attorney’s deadline of Monday afternoon.

“We got an announcement of their defense, which their position is that workers’ compensation in Tennessee is the exclusive remedy for any injury in the workplace,” said attorney Darren Richie.

He said that the $150 million demand on a tight deadline may have seemed “outrageous,” but that was intentional.

“I wanted AES to tell me I was being outrageous. So I could turn around to them and tell them, no, your conduct and behavior, AES, is outrageous,” he said.

The press conference offered new insights into AES’s communication with families in the wake of the deadly explosion and how the victims’ loved ones grieve.

WSMV4 has reached out to AES representatives for comment on these accusations.

AES offers victims’ families ‘insulting’ gift card, shirt

So far, AES has done three things for the victims of the people killed after thousands of pounds of explosives detonated at their Hickman County plant: hosted a barbecue food truck event and sent them a $50 Walmart gift card and a T-shirt with a picture of their deceased loved one, according to Richie.

“Needless to say, that’s insulting,” he said on Thursday.

The lawyer also expressed shock that AES has declined to give families the contact information for their insurance.

“That is a professional courtesy that gets exchanged all the time to facilitate resolution of claims. But they denied it. That shows us how they really feel about their employees,” he said.

He said the team plans to file a lawsuit to demand more from AES.

“And besides saying, oh, I’m sorry, providing some barbecue, gift card, and a t-shirt, they’re acting as if nothing happened. And they’re acting as if they don’t bear any responsibility,” he said. “Well, there’s more than a hundred ways that they bear responsibility here. I want them to step up and take responsibility.”

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