Charlie Kirk Meme Scandal is Insane, Zohran Mamdani's Fake News Problem, & Donald Trump Goes Nuclear
PDS Published 10/30/2025
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A man who was arrested over social media posts he made following Charlie Kirk’s death was just released from jail, meaning he spent a month behind bars because of those comments.
Right, the man here is LarryBushart (Bus-heart) in Tennessee, he was taken into custody on September 22, and he just got out yesterday.
Larry is a retired police officer, and he is known to talk politics online and post liberal memes.[]
And according to The Intercept, in the days after Charlie was killed, Larry was doing just that, posting a ton on Facebook, including in the comment section of a post in a group called “What’s Happening in Perry County.”
That post was about a vigil that would be taking place to honor Charlie in a town called Linden, and Larry posted a slew of memes asking “who gives a shit” that Charlie died, mocking Kash Patel’s Valhalla comment, and more. []
But the one that got him in the most trouble was one where he referenced Donald Trump’s own words.
Right, a photo of Trump’s face alongside the quote “we have to get over it,” with the meme noting that Trump did in fact say that one day after a shooting at Perry High School in Iowa.
And above this, the meme said “this seems relevant today.”
So, to most people, it would seem like the meme is suggesting that if Trump is telling people to “get over” school shootings, then the public should also “get over” Charlie Kirk.
But the thing is, the local high school in the town the post was about is called Perry County High School, and there had recently been an alleged threat against it.
And so the Perry County Sheriff claimed that this caused panic, that parents and students and teachers were concerned he was talking about a hypothetical school shooting at the local Perry County High School in Tennessee.[]
And so Larry ended up getting charged for threatening mass violence at a school, and held on $2 million bail.
Something that truly shocked Larry, according to body cam footage obtained and published by The Intercept.
“This is what they charged you with, threatening mass violence at a school…at a school?....it’s referring to a school, I have no idea...I played on Facebook, I threatened no one.” (0:06-0:15)
“I’ve been in Facebook jail, but I’m really in it now. (crosstalk) I don’t think i committed a crime….that’s what I’m saying, I’m not saying you did or did not commit a crime…I may have been an asshole, but…that’s not illegal.” (0:27-0:37)
And the thing is, some have also questioned if the post even caused mass panic the way the sheriff claimed it did.
With a seniorattorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression telling USA Today that he filed open records requests with Perry County Schools asking for communications laying out the "hysteria" Larry allegedly caused. []
But they apparently had none, explaining:
"I never heard anything back at all from the county” and, all the school said was that: "the sheriff handled that case and there are no records."
On top of that, while some of Larry’s other comments got traction and responses, that Trump meme was apparently ignored on Facebook.[]
And when reports of his arrest made local news, many people seemed confused, and argued that the sheriff was violating free speech by arresting Larry.
Right, people thinking the sheriff, who had posted seemingly grieving Charlie Kirk, had posted willfully misinterpreted Larry’s words.
A Facebook page called Justice For Larry Bushart was then made in support of him, calling for him to be freed, condemning the sheriff for the arrest, defending Larry’s remarks as non-threatening.
And yesterday, we got the news that the charges against Larry had finally been dropped, after he was locked up for a month because of this.
With Larry walking free and telling reporters:
“Thanks to all and any supporters out there, and I’m very happy to be going home. I didn’t seek to be a media sensation.” (0:44-0:54)
And as for why the charges were all of a sudden dropped, it is not quite clear.
Though you do have some noting that it came not long after reporting on the case from The Intercept and News Channel 5 in Nashville brought a ton of attention to the case.
And an interview News Channel 5 did with the Sheriff of Perry County specifically prompted a ton of outrage.
Because in that interview, he continued to say the arrest was due to public concerns while also seemingly admitting he knew that Larry was not actually threatening the school.
“35 days, over a meme?...Well it was a series of posts, but yes, the one post that he made, with Donald Trump, that got everyone’s attention and was considered threatening.” (1:16-1:31)
“That led people to believe, in our county, that he is talking about Perry County High School. Because it doesn’t say Iowa, either…but you also knew this was an existing meme that was already out there on the internet?...correct…And so it is clear he is not talking about Perry County High School…We knew, the public did not know.” (3:13-3:33)
Right, and the interview did not go over well with the public.
But now, Larry is out and free, but he still was in jail for over a month because of social media posts made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing.
And I would love to know your thoughts on this one.
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Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons again for the first time since 1992.
And he made this announcement on social media just minutes before meeting with ` Chinese President Xi Jinping – writing:
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office” – going on to say:
“Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years” – finally adding:
“Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
But there are a few issues with what he said:
1) Just for the sake of accuracy, the exact number of nuclear weapons held by each country is not 100% known…
but it’s Russia that has the most according to estimates by groups including the Federation of American Scientists and Arms Control Association.
2) It’s not clear why he’d give the order to the Pentagon when America’s nuclear arsenal is maintained by the Department of Energy and a semiautonomous agency within it known as the National Nuclear Security Administration.
And 3) This is the big one, neither Russia, China, nor any country on Earth save North Korea has live tested a nuclear weapon in this century.
And with that, it seems possible that Trump is conflating the testing of missiles that deliver a nuclear warhead with the testing of the warheads themselves.
In that case, this might all be a response to Putin announcing earlier this week that Russia had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile and atomic-powered underwater drone both capable of delivering a nuclear payload.
And notably, the missile? It had reportedly been engineered to evade defense systems being developed by the US – namely Trump’s so-called “Golden Dome” – which the Kremlin sees as an effort to develop “first strike capability” over Russia.
And with that, it’s also worth noting that, like Russia, the U.S. military already regularly tests its own missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload – it actually just tested one last month.
And so it’s not clear that starting tests “on an equal basis” as Trump said would really be that much of a departure from what we’re doing now.
Although none of that should be taken to dismiss the seriousness of the situation.
Right, regardless of Trump's announcement, you’ve had many arguing that we’re in the midst of a new nuclear arms race.
It’s true that Russia and China have aggressively been expanding their nuclear stockpile in recent years – but the US has also been spending massively to upgrade its arsenal.
And with that, Putin actually signed a bill in 2023 revoking his country’s ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty – claiming it was necessary to put Russia on equal footing with the US, which has signed but never ratified the treaty.
Also, next year, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the US and Russia is set to expire.
And even before Trump got back into office, there had been well-founded fears that his administration might be interested in resuming nuclear testing – we actually did a whole deep dive on the subject.
And a key takeaway was that experts say thanks to the models and simulations and other techniques we have now there’s no point to live testing anymore – especially given the potential downside.
With some experts warning at the beginning of Trump’s second term:
“The goal of conducting a fast-tracked nuclear test can only be political, not scientific.” []
And adding to that, in response to Trump’s announcement this week, you’ve had the head of the Washington-based Arms Control Association calling the president “misinformed and out of touch” and arguing: :
“The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing…”
Also claiming that “It would take least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada” – and adding:
“By foolishly announcing his intention (to) resume nuclear testing, Trump will trigger strong public opposition in Nevada, from all U.S. allies, and it could trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by U.S. adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.”
And to that point, you’ve already had a Kremlin spokesperson warning that if the US resumes nuclear testing Russia would follow suit.
And as of now, Trump hasn’t offered any clarity about his remarks – only speaking to reporters and doubling down:
“They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody, we don’t do testing.”
“But with others doing testing I think it’s appropriate that we do also.” (0:14-0:20, 0:25-0:29)
And with that, he says future testing will be announced – so we’ll have to wait and see what exactly that looks like.
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Did one of Zohran Mamdani’s biggest supporters just abandon him?
That’s what it was looking like after the Times of London talked to former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who started to question if Mamdani’s policies were actually feasible and saying:
“While the ambition is admirable, the cost estimates -- reportedly exceeding $7 billion annually -- rest on optimistic assumptions… about eliminating waste and raising revenue through new taxes.”
“In my view, the math doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial.” []
This was such a shift that even Andrew Cuomo’s camp picked up on it and said that de Blasio realized that Mamdani’s plans for stuff like free buses was just “g litter and vibes.”
Except one massive issue: former mayor Bill de Blasio came out and said that he never spoke with the Times of London and wrote:
“I want to be 100% clear: The story in the Times of London is entirely false and fabricated. It was just brought to my attention and I’m appalled. I never spoke to that reporter and never said those things. Those quotes aren’t mine, don’t reflect my views.” []
(He later added that he very much supports Mamdani’s policies)
So did the Times just make this up? That would be extremely uncharacteristic for a pretty well-respected paper with 240 years of history.
Well, according to them they were lied to and took down the piece just 2 hours after it was published “...after discovering that our reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be the former New York mayor.”
But Bill de Blasio doesn’t see it that way: yes, I said Bill de Blasio.
Ends up there’s another dude in New York with that name and is a 59-year-old wine Importer from Long island who spoke to Semafor about the situation.
He claims that a reporter from The Times hit him up for his opinion about the race, and added:
“I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.”
He also pointed out that: “I could have corrected him… it was all in good fun. I never thought it would make it to print.”
To add a little cherry on top, his criticism of Mamdani’s plan wasn’t even his own opinion.
Instead he just went to ChatGPT to figure out what to write.
So I’ll leave it to you to decide if he was impersonating the former mayor, or if The Times of London just messed up and is trying to downplay this big whoopsie by placing part of the blame on someone else.
(I mean, if you’re named Bill de Blasio and getting hit up to be asked about the mayoral race in NYC… I’d imagine that there was an implication he thought you were legit. Although probably a lesson for everyone in the industry to VET YOUR SOURCES!)
And if it ends up that a third Bill de Blasio is the guy who spoke to Semafor impersonating the second Bill de Blasio I will know we’re in the Matrix because there’s no way there’s that many people in NYC with that name.
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The cop that shot Sonya Massey has just been found guilty for her muder!
But for her family, it isn’t enough.
Right, if you don’t remember, last year 36-year-old Sonya Massey called 911 in the middle of the night because she thought someone was lurking outside her house in Springfield, Illinois.
At the time, 2 sheriff’s deputies responded - one of them being Sean Grayson.
Grayson and the other deputy searched the property and, not finding anyone, knocked on the door to talk to Sonya.
From there, they went inside and had a cordial conversation - that is, until Grayson saw a boiling pot of water on the stove and asked Sonya to take it off the burner.
And that’s when the body cam footage showed things getting heated -
[“Sonya: Where y’all going? Grayson: Away from your hot steaming water. Sonya: Away from my hot steaming water? I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. Grayson: What? You better fucking not or, I swear to god, I’ll shoot you right in your fucking face. Drop the fucking pot. Sonya: Okay, I’m sorry.” 0:19-0:35]
From there, Sonya apologized, ducking down and that’s when Grayson shot her three times - with one shot hitting her head.
Afterwards, the other deputy tried giving Sonya first aid but Grayson reportedly told the guy not to bother - that Sonya’s injuries were too severe. []
And, of course, didn’t try to give her any aid himself.
It is also worth noting that it wasn’t Grayson’s body camera that caught this whole interaction - it was the other deputy’s.
Because - shocker - Grayson’s wasn’t even turned on. []
Now, it is also important to mention here that Sonya was struggling with some mental health issues in the weeks leading up to her death.
In fact, the day before she was killed, Sonya’s mother called the police saying that her daughter was having a mental breakdown and asked the police not to hurt her when they responded. []
After Sonya was killed, there was an investigation into her death by the Illinois State Police and the local State’s Attorney’s Office.
That investigation led to Grayson’s indictment which then led to him being fired and a whole bunch of backlash for the sheriff’s office about his being hired in the first place. []
Right, because this dude had a spotty history at best - with 2 DUI convictions, one of which led to his discharge from the Army for “serious misconduct.”
As well as a documented history of impulsive decision-making and filing inaccurate reports as a law enforcement officer. []
And this situation reignited protests across the country about the way law enforcement treats Black communities as well as those having mental health crises.
Even Joe Biden, who was president at the time, commented saying Sonya should still be alive. []
Anyway, Grayson’s defense team successfully got his trial moved out of Springfield to Peoria about 70 miles away.
And the trial lasted about a week - with the defense making the case that the shooting was justified.
When he took to the stand in his own defense, Grayson reportedly argued that he was afraid for his safety when Sonya grabbed the pot of water - saying,
“In this situation, unfortunately, I matched the threat level.” []
With one of his attorneys adding that what happened to Sonya was, quote, “tragic, but it was not a crime.” []
By contrast, the prosecution argued that Grayson needlessly escalated the situation by failing to follow any of his training and acting unreasonably.
With the top prosecutor saying,
Now, Grayson was charged with first-degree murder but the jury was given the option of considering the lesser charge of second-degree murder instead -
which can apply when a defendant faces a “serious provocation” or believes their action is justified even if that belief is unreasonable. []
And after nearly 12 hours of deliberation, that’s what the jury convicted Grayson on yesterday. []
So instead of the 45 years to life in prison that comes with first-degree, Grayson is facing up to 20 years.
And while probation is technically an option for a second-degree murder conviction, according to a former appellate court justice, it’s unlikely in this case. []
And this result has caused an uproar among Sonya’s family and her supporters - with her father even calling it a “miscarriage of justice.” []
Adding,
“Sean Grayson should be able to get out of jail when my daughter can get out of that burial vault and walk out of Oak Hill Cemetery.” []
Then Sonya’s mother added,
“Anybody who watched the video and thinks that it was partly Sonya’s fault is inhumane. And for them not to give him life, and Sonya got life – and death … I can’t wait until he goes to hell.” []
And Sonya’s cousin also chimed in saying,
“I’m fueled by rage right now. You get an officer that says he’s going to shoot you in the face, and then he shoots you in the face, and you only get second-degree? The justice system did exactly what it’s designed to do today. It’s not meant for us.” []
As for the prosecution team, they say yesterday’s verdict wasn’t ideal but it is, quote, “a measure of justice.” []
Adding,
"Accountability has begun, and we now hope the court will impose a meaningful sentence that reflects the severity of these crimes and the life that was lost.” []
But it’s going to be a while before we get that answer - the sentencing hearing is scheduled for the end of January.
So we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I’d love to know your thoughts about this whole thing - especially if you’ve been following this case for a while.
Let me know in those comments down below.
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But then finally today,
I almost feel like I have a guest host because he did such a good job here.
This morning I spoke with Marquez Brownlee Mkbhd for the In Good Faith podcast,
which right now it's up.
You can get the full hour long thing links in the description.
It's a really fantastic episode.
We go super tech, Apple, Tim Cook, AI and jobs.
We get personal, get YouTube.
But what am I to include here?
And today's show on is him walking me through this whole controversy
around this new $20,000 in-home robot servant situation.
This is the pitch versus the reality.
So the pitch is there's a five foot six humanoid robot that lives in your house,
and when you leave in the morning, it unplugs itself and gets off
the dock and walks around and does your chores.
It does the laundry.
It does the dishes, it vacuums. It puts stuff away.
It finds the remote between the cushions.
It puts your keys back where they belong.
Like it?
It it does everything. It's a nice little helper.
And no matter how slow it does it, it's in the background.
You're at work. It's doing all of this for you.
Immense value. Right?
The reality is that requires
an incredibly complex neural net and a model of your house
and knowing all these household objects, and that doesn't exist yet.
So there is also the ability for a Tesla operator
to come in and work through the robot to do these tasks for you,
which represents obviously a totally different privacy situation,
a totally different comfort level for a lot of people.
And oh, by the way, you can give us your money today
and preorder it and we'll ship the version with the Tesla operator now in hopes
that maybe someday we'll get to the version
that's super advanced, that can do it all on its own.
So if you're a tech bro, if you're really in the thick of this,
if you're on Twitter thinking, this is amazing, then you are.
You're actually willing to let that Tesla operator do the task and
and hopefully contribute kind of as a beta tester.
But if you're, a little bit
more unplugged, a little bit more of a normal person, you might say
this is, an almost unfathomable product that should never be in your house.
And what if it falls? And what if it lands on my dog?
And what if it creeps out?
What if it strangles? And it.
Like, there's all kinds of questions people have that
you just immediately think like a normal person.
You're like, this sounds insane.
That is where I'm going to end this video, though.
Again, much more to watch. Just a click away.
Full hour.
The newest episode of In Good Faith, this one with Mkbhd.
You can click or tap right here.
I got links in the description or top comment and or you can watch that
new available DeFranco show that you haven't seen yet right here.
But no matter what you do, let me just say thank you for watching.
I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here next time.
