United States | News & Politics

A Tennessee man who was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post he shared after the killing of Charlie Kirk has agreed to a $835,000 settlement with the sheriff who detained him, his lawyers said on Wednesday.

The fatal shooting of Mr. Kirk, the conservative activist, last September set off an avalanche of social media commentary across the country. With it came firings, resignations and a debate about the boundaries of free speech. But Larry Bushart, the man arrested in Tennessee, was perhaps the only person charged with a felony after his posts about Mr. Kirk’s death.

In the posts, he shared memes that accused Mr. Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, of perpetrating hate and another that included past comments from President Trump about moving past a school shooting. The sheriff’s office in Perry County, Tenn., claimed that with those posts, he had threatened violence.