A right-wing police chief flipped out when a TV reporter questioned him about a possibly illegal child sex sting operation involving right-wing conspiracy theorists.
Millersville police chief Bryan Morris told far-right podcaster Tom Renz that his department had been denied access to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network run by the U.S. Department of Treasury as it looks into complaints that he and other conspiracy-minded officers allowed self-described "prayer warriors" to pose as minors online to entrap would-be predators, reported WTVF-TV.
"I’ve actually called down there and talked to them," Morris told Renz, "and what I’ve been told is we’re on hold because they are auditing us."
The TV station has been reporting on the department and its conspiracy theorist chief and assistant chief Shawn Taylor, who claims powerful political figures are involved in child sex trafficking and sometimes boasts that he has access to their sensitive data. Taylor told another right-wing podcaster he had banking records for Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn's campaign.
"As a matter of fact, there may be somebody that's already close to her that has already provided that — just so you know — a file about yay thick," Taylor told the Alpha Warrior podcast, holding his hands about six inches apart.
The sting operation may have been unlawful because Millersville police allowed individuals, including a North Carolina woman accused of domestic violence and child abuse and two MAGA podcasters who were not sworn law enforcement officials, to take part.
ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability
Morris, who is also the interim city manager, attacked WTVF reporter Phil Williams for inviting scrutiny of the department.
"Once we start getting this bad publicity, our access starts getting cut off to financial reports, FinCen," Morris said. "We can’t do investigations. We don’t have everything in this office that we need, you know."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation declined to comment about the case and denied a public records request, saying the allegations were still under investigation, but individuals who have spoken to authorities say agents were trying to determine whether Taylor or others used FinCin data or other law enforcement databases to investigate their political enemies — which Morris denies.
"These reports we run, we’re not running them on just everybody we don’t like," Morris told Renz. "We are running them for a legit reason, and the ones that we have received back, we got what we thought we were going to get."
Morris also claims that Taylor's home "got shot up" by individuals trying to scare him away from investigating his conspiracy theories and accused WTVF of posting the assistant chief's address online. Williams denied ever posting that information and noted the alleged shooting took place more than a year before he started looking into the department.
"I'm not sure what Channel 5, specifically Phil Williams, has against us — I have no idea," Morris told the podcaster. "He hasn't talked to me."
However, Williams said he had twice contacted Morris for comment, and was turned down both times, after the station learned of secret recordings that revealed police tried to cover up the involvement of MAGA activists in the sting operation, and the chief lobbed a vile accusation at the reporter when he asked for a statement.
"You know, the only thing I can think is: you are a pedophile or you are covering for somebody that is," Morris told the reporter. "That’s the only reason I can come up with."
