One
of
the
signs
you’ve
begun
thinking
like
a
lawyer
is
when
you
happen
upon
a
news
story
and
reflexively
think
“That’s
a
lawsuit
waiting
to
happen.”
Case
in
point
—
Larry
Bushart
getting
arrested
and
charged
over
a
Trump
meme.
Thankfully,
the
long
wait
is
over:
This
should
be
an
open
and
shut
case
in
his
favor.
The
lawsuit
will
(hopefully)
memorialize
a
strange
moment
in
America’s
history
where
a
man’s
public
murder
was
used
as
part
of
a
larger
campaign
to
whip
up
a
frenzy
and
inspire
more
calls
to
violence
against
minorities
until
it
was
discovered
that
the
alleged
shooter
was
“demographically
uncooperative.”
The
weeks
following
Charlie
Kirk’s
murder
sent
everyone
into
a
sentiment
censorship
frenzy
where
even
paraphrasing
his
words
could
cost
you
your
job.
The
zeitgeist
was
so
heavy
with
thought
policing
and
obeying
in
advance
that
even
the
vice
president
started
jawboning
private
employers
to
discipline
their
employees
over
offending
speech.
Maybe
that’s
why
the
people
who
reported
Bushart
and
the
police
who
then
arrested
him
didn’t
feel
too
much
pause
over
the
deeply
un-American
actions
at
play.
Fear
can
get
in
the
way
of
commitments
to
liberty
—
a
few
jumps
in
reasoning
lead
people
to
think
that
Bushart’s
post
was
actually
a
call
for
more
gun
violence;
another
point
that
has
no
way
of
holding
up
in
court.
The
stakes
of
this
case
loom
large
for
Americans
as
a
whole:
FIRE
lead
attorney
Adam
Steinbaugh
who
had
this
to
say:
“If
police
can
come
to
your
door
in
the
middle
of
the
night
and
put
you
behind
bars
based
on
nothing
more
than
an
entirely
false
and
contrived
interpretation
of
a
post,
no
one’s
First
Amendment
rights
are
safe[.]”
If
Bushart
wins,
there’s
gonna
be
a
hell
of
a
lot
of
“I
told
you
so-ing.”
If
he
loses,
the
chilling
effects
will
be
so
strong
that
we
probably
won’t
be
telling
each
other
anything
at
all.
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.