‘Al Gore, you’re a piece of sh*t!’ Meet Millersville’s conspiracy cop

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — 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.

“Yeah, Al Gore, you’re a piece of sh*t — just so you know,” Shawn Taylor proclaims in a December 2023 podcast.

Meet Millersville’s conspiracy cop.

Screenshot/Rumble

When controversial candidate Gabrielle Hanson was running for mayor of Franklin last fall, she gave voice to political conspiracy theories so bizarre that residents were often left wondering where she would get such ideas.

Now, in a recent podcast interview, Hanson has pointed to Taylor as a source for some of her claims.

Related: Gabrielle Hanson claims evil forces decided to make her focus of NC5 investigation — instead of killing her

NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered hours and hours of videos where Shawn Taylor has appeared on podcasts associated with the widely discredited QAnon conspiracy theories.

There, Taylor shares his own bizarre speculations about corruption that he claims to have uncovered.

“I found out that it wasn’t just district attorneys, I found out it wasn’t just judges. I found out that it went a whole lot higher than that,” he insists in one podcast interview.

Taylor claims to see connections no one else can see.

In one video, he shows a sketch of connections he imagines between former President Barack Obama and several Tennessee political figures in what he claims is some sort of illegal plot.

“These people right here, on the top of this list, should absolutely 100% be in Gitmo, facing charges,” Taylor declares.

And when he strikes out, like in one video looking at property supposedly linked to Bill Gates, the lack of anything suspicious is a reason, in his mind, to be suspicious.

“Nothing that really looks suspicious,” Taylor says as he examines images from Google Earth, “and when I don’t have anything that looks suspicious, that makes me think something’s up.”

Taylor recently landed in Millersville as assistant police chief, promising to root out the corruption he sees there.

A self-described gypsy cop, court records show the conspiracy theorist has bounced from town to town, sometimes keeping a job for just a few months at a time.

“Every time I will go to an agency and start digging, they will always, as soon as I start showing them everything, they will shut me down,” Taylor says in one podcast interview.

Bob Stinnett/WTVF

Which is why NewsChannel 5 went to Millersville to ask the assistant chief about those claims.

“We’d like to talk to you about some of your conspiracy theories,” we told Taylor when we caught up with him outside of City Hall.

“All right, well, have a good day,” he responded.

Taylor claims he’s uncovered a vast criminal conspiracy that involves former President George Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former vice president Al Gore, billionaires George Soros, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett — along with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, former governors Ray Blanton, Ned McWherter and Bill Haslam, potentially involving current Gov. Bill Lee.

There’s also state Sen. Jack Johnson, his wife Judge Deanna Johnson, Tennessee banker Jim Ayers, former TBI director Larry Wallace, current state Safety Commissioner Jeff Long and at least three Tennessee district attorneys.

On top of that, there’s the FBI, the CIA, the TBI and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates told Taylor, “Some of your theories are so bizarre. Are you worried about them affecting your credibility?”

“I have no worries about that,” he answered.

Taylor imagines that the elder President Bush enlisted the Clintons into his transnational criminal network.

“Old man Bush is the king, he’s the ringleader, he’s the one that got all of this stuff happening.”

And the Clintons brought in Tennessee’s Al Gore.

WTVF/AP Photos

“That was the reason he became vice president,” Taylor said in one podcast.

The interviewer followed up, “Because he was trafficking drugs and kids back then? No kidding?”

“Because he was involved in it. His family was involved in it, they were steeped in it for generations.”

Tennessee’s TennCare health insurance plan, according to Taylor, was part of the plot.

“It was adopted by the Gores here and implemented — and one of the reasons I believe that they implemented it was to help launder the funds and the proceeds from the smuggling.”

Even Republicans like U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, Taylor claims, are also involved in the various plots.

“Marsha, I hope you’re listening because I know all of your illegal campaign contributions ran through Fifth Third Bank. We’re looking into that too – just so she knows,” he told another podcaster.

That podcaster remarked, “Stand by, Marsha.”

“Yeah,” Taylor continued, “we’re coming for you too.”

Taylor is quick to see corruption everywhere he goes, in one case playing a 2018 video of his takedown of some gang members.

“I had another city that was within a quarter mile that refused to back me up because, I’ll just call it, the Greenbrier police chief there is corrupt as sh*t.”

Without evidence, he accuses Cookeville DA Bryant Dunaway of covering up murders in his district, claiming the DA is lying when he says certain murders are unsolved.

“Bullsh*t. Let me tell you something, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway of Cookeville, you are a lying piece of sh*t.”

And he imagines that his own DA, Ray Whitley of Gallatin, has done favors for drug dealers who, he thinks, help keep him in office.

Whitley, he claims, “several years ago basically framed two gentlemen for a homicide when he knew that they didn’t do it, but they owned the drug dealers money that he gets money from to be elected.”

Again, there is absolutely no evidence to support any of Taylor’s bizarre claims which, until now, might have been a subject of mild curiosity.

“If I was still in law enforcement, and I wasn’t retired, I would be seeking search warrants,” he said in one podcast. “I would be seeking arrest warrants and/or indictments and we would be kicking people’s asses.”

That was before Taylor got his new job at Millersville.

Now, with police powers, armed with a gun and badge, Taylor has the power to do just that.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates had one more question for Taylor.

“You said in one podcast that if you don’t see anything suspicious, you find that to be suspicious. Do you not find that to be crazy talk?”

Shawn: “No, I don’t, Mr. (redacted).”

That is where this story took another strange turn.

Taylor referred to this reporter by my late wife’s last name — she’s been dead for years — which suggests that he’s now been digging into me and my background.

What we don’t know is: has he been doing that using government computers or government resources?

Our investigation continues.

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