\n<\/p>\n
The Intercept and Nashville\u2019s CBS affiliate, NewsChannel 5, secured bodycam footage from the Lexington cop that undermined Weems\u2019 narrative. The footage clearly showed the cop did not understand why the Perry County sheriff had taken issue with Bushart\u2019s Facebook post.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I\u2019m just going to be completely honest with you,\u201d the cop told Bushart. \u201cI have really no idea what they are talking about. He had just called me and said there was some concerning posts that were made\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bushart clarified that it was likely his Facebook posts, laughing at the notion that someone had called the cops to report his meme. The Lexington officer told Bushart that he wasn\u2019t sure \u201cexactly what\u201d Facebook post \u201cthey are referring to you,\u201d but \u201cthey said that something was insinuating violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it wasn\u2019t,\u201d Bushart responded, confirming that \u201cI\u2019m not going to take it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cop, declining to even glance at the Facebook post, told Bushart, \u201cI don\u2019t care. This ain\u2019t got nothing to do with me.\u201d But the officer\u2019s indifference didn\u2019t stop Lexington police from taking Bushart into custody, booking him, and sending him to Weems\u2019 county, where Bushart was charged \u201cunder a state law passed in July 2024 that makes it a Class E felony to make threats against schools,\u201d The Tennessean reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to clarify, this is what they charged you with,\u201d a Perry County jail officer told Bushart\u2014which was recorded on footage reviewed by The Intercept\u2014\u201cThreatening Mass Violence at a School.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a school?\u201d Bushart asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t got a clue,\u201d the officer responded, laughing. \u201cI just gotta do what I have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in Facebook jail, but now I\u2019m really in it,\u201d Bushart said, joining him in laughing.<\/p>\n
Lexington police told The Intercept that Weems had lied when he told local news outlets that the forces had \u201ccoordinated\u201d to offer Bushart a chance to delete the post prior to his arrest. Confronted with the bodycam footage, Weems denied lying, claiming that his investigator\u2019s report must have been inaccurate, NewsChannel 5 reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Weems later admitted to NewsChannel 5 that \u201cinvestigators knew that the meme was not about Perry County High School\u201d and sought Bushart\u2019s arrest anyway, supposedly hoping to quell \u201cthe fears of people in the community who misinterpreted it.\u201d That\u2019s as close as Weems comes to seemingly admitting that his intention was to censor the post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n