Tenn. Law Aimed at Students Who Make School Shooting Threats Ensnares a Retiree
There鈥檚 an innate tension between school safety and students鈥� civil rights. The 74鈥檚 Mark Keierleber keeps you up to date on the news you need to know
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Larry Bushart Jr. was just freed from a Tennessee jail cell after spending more than a month behind bars 鈥斅�.
The high-profile arrest of the 61-year-old retiree and former cop 鈥斅爓hich made waves in free speech circles 鈥斅爃as all the hallmarks of聽聽in 2025:聽
- A chronically online progressive turns to Facebook to troll his MAGA neighbors about President Donald Trump鈥檚 seemingly lopsided response to school shootings compared to the murder of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk
- An elected, overzealous county sheriff intent on shutting him up
- A debate over the limits of the First Amendment 鈥� and the president鈥檚 broader efforts to silence his critics
also calls attention to a series of recent Tennessee laws that carry harsh punishments for making school shooting threats and place police officers on campus threat assessment teams working to ferret out students with violent plans before anyone gets hurt.
In Bushart鈥檚 case, the sheriff maintained that his post referring to the president鈥檚 reaction to a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa, constituted a threat 鈥渙f mass violence at a school,鈥� apparently the local Perry County High School. The rules that ensnared Bushart have also . His is likely to be next, Bushart鈥檚 lawyer told The Washington Post.
In the news
Updates in Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown: Federal immigration officers chased a Chicago teacher into the lobby of a private preschool Wednesday and dragged her out as parents watched her cry 鈥渢engo papeles!鈥� or 鈥淚 have papers.鈥� The incident is perhaps the most significant immigration enforcement act in a school to date. |
- Proposed federal rules would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to collect iris scans, fingerprints and other biometric data on all immigrants 鈥� including, for the first time, children under 14 years old 鈥� and store it for the duration of each individual person鈥檚 鈥渓ifecycle.鈥� |
- On the same day Cornell University notified an international student that his immigration status had been revoked, Google alerted him that federal authorities had subpoenaed his personal emails. Now, the institution won鈥檛 say whether federal authorities had tapped into university 鈥渆mails to track [students] as well.鈥� |
- In California, federal immigration officers shot a U.S. citizen from behind as he warned the agents that students would soon gather in the area to catch a school bus. The government says the shots were 鈥渄efensive.鈥� |
- 鈥楧eportation isn鈥檛 a costume鈥�: A Maine middle school principal is facing pushback for a federal immigration officer Halloween costume, complete with a bulletproof vest that read 鈥淚CE.鈥� |
- In Chicago communities that have seen the most significant increase in immigration enforcement, school enrollment has plunged. |
- Also in Chicago, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to hand over use-of-force records and body camera footage after trick-or-treaters were 鈥渢ear-gassed on their way to celebrate Halloween.鈥� |
A bipartisan bill seeks to bar minors from using AI chatbots as petrified parents testified their children used the tools with dire consequences 鈥� including suicide. Some warn the change could stifle the potential of chatbots for career or mental health counseling services. |
- A Kentucky mom filed a federal lawsuit against online gaming communities Discord and Roblox alleging the companies jeopardized children鈥檚 safety in the name of profit. After her 13-year-old daughter died by suicide last year, the mom said, she found the girl had a second life online that idolized school shooters. |
- announced it will bar minors from its chatbots, acknowledging safety concerns about how 鈥渢eens do, and should, interact with this new technology.鈥� |
A jury awarded $10 million to former Virginia teacher Abby Zwerner on Thursday, two years after she was shot by her 6-year-old student. Zwerner accused her former assistant principal of ignoring repeated warnings that the first grader had a gun. The to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. |
鈥楥reepy, unsettling鈥�: This family spent a week with Grem, a stuffed animal with artificial intelligence designed to 鈥渓earn鈥� children’ s personalities and hold educational conversations. |
A judge ordered the Trump administration to release federal funds to California school districts after it sought to revoke nearly $165 million in mental health grants as part of a broader crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion. The grants funded hundreds of school social workers and counselors. |
In 95% of schools, active-shooter drills are now a routine part of campus life. Here鈥檚 how states are trying to make them less traumatic. |
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A lawsuit against a Pennsylvania school district alleges educators failed to keep students safe after a 12-year-old girl was attacked by a classmate with a metal Stanley drinking cup. |
鈥業nviting government overreach and abuse鈥�: The Education Department was slapped with two lawsuits over new Public Service Loan Forgiveness rules that could bar student borrowers from the program who end up working for the president鈥檚 political opponents, including organizations that serve immigrant students and LGBTQ+ youth. |
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