NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A special meeting of the Millersville City Commission to review the hiring of Assistant Police Chief Shawn Taylor has been postponed at the request of an attorney now representing the officer known for his bizarre conspiracies.
Shawn Taylor is now claiming he is a whistleblower and needs time to have an attorney to represent him at the meeting on his status, according to an email from city attorney Bryant Kroll. That email also referenced unspecified security concerns.
"It is important to consider the potential risks to the City if we proceed with the hearing as scheduled without allowing Mr. Taylor representation," Kroll advised the commission. "There is also a risk if somebody gets injured here and we had reason to suspect violence."
Kroll's message followed an email received from attorney Todd Callender, who says he has been retained to "represent Shawn Taylor in relation to federal whistleblower protection as the Assistant Chief of Police in your city."
Callender is a Colorado-based attorney known for his unorthodox views about COVID-19 and the COVID vaccines. In one video posted on Rumble, Callender claims that the shot "effectively gave the world vaccine-induced AIDS."
Again, that's a discredited theory.
Callender's email said he has also enlisted local attorney John Harris to potentially assist in Taylor's representation, although Harris needs time to make sure he has no conflicts. Harris serves as executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association.
"As such, I respectfully request you set this hearing back a couple of weeks to allow us time to do the work necessary to properly and effectively represent Mr. Taylor’s interests," Callender wrote in his email to Kroll.
Callender said that "it is our belief that Mr. Taylor is availed to one or more federal whistleblower statutes; and as such, I believe the impending hearing may knowingly deprive Shawn of his right to legal representation, which could give rise to retaliation, persecution, retribution and other such claims.
"Of course, our intention is to open a dialogue with your offices in order to avoid unnecessary escalation."
Related videos, & stories:
Part One: Meet Millersville's conspiracy cop. He believes the completely bogus QAnon conspiracy theory that falsely claimed Democrats had kept child sex slaves locked up in the basement of a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C.
He imagines sinister plots involving some of the country's most prominent political figures, including his theory — with no evidence whatsoever — that former Vice President Al Gore was involved in the disappearance and murder of 20-year-old Holly Bobo in 2011.
Taylor recently landed in Millersville as assistant police chief, promising to root out the corruption he sees there.
You can continue reading at this hyperlink.
Part Two: The controversy over Millersville's conspiracy cop, first uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, has now become the latest scandal rocking the tiny town just north of Nashville.
Now, two city commissioners want a special meeting to figure out how Shawn Taylor landed his job as the city's assistant police chief.
At the center of the controversy: Do Millersville residents want a high-ranking police official — with a gun, badge and the power to arrest people — who believes in bizarre conspiracy theories with no real evidence to back them up?
You can continue reading Part Two at this link.
Part Three: An attorney for Millersville conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor has told Millersville's city commission, whom he also represents, that they should not question the assistant police chief's bizarre theories or psychological fitness because his client Shawn Taylor could sue his other client, the city.
The attorney's advice, delivered in an email sent Thursday, responded to a request from two city commissioners for a special meeting to review Taylor's hiring following NewsChannel 5's investigation of the self-described "gypsy cop."
"Interrogating Assistant Chief Taylor about his political viewpoints or political speech will violate his First Amendment rights and thereby expose the City to significant legal liability...," wrote Bryant Kroll.
You can read more of this installment at this link.
Part Four: Anna Caudill agreed to watch the video of Shawn Taylor knowing there might be only so much she could handle.
"So we'll start this," I reassured her, "and then, when you've had enough, you just stop it."
In the podcast video uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Taylor shared bogus conspiracy theories about Nashville's Covenant School shooting. Now the assistant police chief in Millersville, Taylor was between police jobs at the time he recorded the podcast with two other conspiracy theorists.
For Anna, the mass shooting was personal.
Among the three children and three adults killed that day was her friend, Katherine Koonce, the school's beloved headmaster who was gunned down as she tried to stop the shooter.
You can read more of Anna's story by tapping on this link.
Part Five: First, he went after Millersville’s former mayor.
Now, the town’s assistant police chief says his two critics on the city commission could be next.
Shawn Taylor, who has become known as Millersville’s conspiracy cop, made those comments as he turned to a group of far-right podcasters to defend himself against questions raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Tap this link to read from those Taylor's accused.
Part Six: Millersville officials are standing with their assistant police chief and his bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Nashville's Covenant School shooting.
City Commissioner David Gregory urged his fellow commissioners to demand that Shawn Taylor apologize for a 2023 podcast in which he had questioned the official story. Taylor falsely claimed that video released by police was actually staged.
But the three-member majority ignored Gregory's plea, just as they have refused a recent request by Gregory and Commissioner Cristina Templet for a special meeting of the city commission to discuss Taylor's hiring.
Read how this meeting played out at this link.
Part Seven: Bryant Kroll wears a lot of hats.
He's the attorney representing the embattled City of Millersville. He also represents Mayor Tommy Long, who faces accusations of misconduct in an ouster suit. Plus, he's the personal attorney for Police Chief Bryan Morris and Assistant Police Chief Shawn Taylor, representing them in a lawsuit against the City of Ridgetop.
To understand the role he plays, you can read that here.
Part Eight: In Shawn Taylor's world — in the immortal words of Taylor Swift — "I'm the problem, it's me."
Not his bizarre conspiracy theories — with no evidence — imagining some of the most prominent people in the country are engaged in child sex trafficking.
I explain how we got here in this piece, which you can click on here.