TBI agents raid Millersville Police Department, home of town's 'conspiracy cop' as probe intensifies

    MILLERSVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) -- Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Millersville Police Department on Wednesday, executing a search warrant as the criminal investigation into the troubled agency enters a dramatic new phase.

A team of agents was also seen executing a separate search warrant at the White House residence of the department's conspiracy-minded assistant police chief, Shawn Taylor.

"I can confirm that a search warrant execution is underway at the Millersville Police Department as part of an ongoing investigation," TBI spokesperson Susan Niland said in an email.

She later confirmed the search at the address where Taylor resides.

An estimated dozen TBI agents descended upon Millersville City Hall sometime Wednesday morning to carry out the search.

Photos provided to NewsChannel 5 Investigates show agents combing through an unmarked police vehicle as Chief Bryan Morris and Detective Todd Dorris stood off to the side. NewsChannel 5 later witnessed agents searching multiple other vehicles.

Agents were also inside the department searching offices there.

About nine miles away in rural Robertson County, NewsChannel 5 Investigates observed eight TBI agents outside Shawn Taylor's home, which prominently features an American flag and a Trump flag on a flagpole just outside.

TBI agents were seen going back and forth from their vehicles to the home, carrying documents and clipboards. NewsChannel 5 also observed a K-9 dog being led around the property, but a TBI source later clarified that it was not a dog belonging to the bureau.

While it is not known what TBI agents are seeking, Taylor has appeared in videos in which he displays an impressive collection of electronic equipment that he has utilized to pursue his sometimes bizarre conspiracy theories.

The search comes amid an ongoing NewsChannel 5 investigation that sparked a TBI investigation of the department under the leadership of Morris and Taylor.

Two local district attorneys have previously confirmed to NewsChannel 5 Investigates that the TBI has been asked to investigate the possible use of sensitive law enforcement data to dig up dirt on potential political enemies.

The TBI is also investigating possible perjury of a Millersville detective, stemming from his testimony in what appears to have been a botched child predator sting.

Online, the reaction from Shawn Taylor's camp was predictable — as the conspiracy theorist at the center of that botched child-predator sting posted a video in which he blamed NewsChannel 5 for the TBI raid.

Craig "Sawman" Sawyer, founder of Veterans for Child Rescue, claimed the search is designed to cover up for child sex trafficking in Tennessee.

"The locals there who have been victims of organized crime exposed to us that, yeah, Phil Williams is a cover-up man, that the TBI does have a percentage of their bureau that's corrupted," said Craig "Sawman" Sawyer, the founder of Veterans for Child Rescue.

Still, a Millersville city commissioner told NewsChannel 5 that he hopes this raid will be the beginning of an effort to restore sanity in the town he calls home.

We asked David Gregory, "The fact that the TBI is here, does that give you hope?"

"It gives me a lot of hope," Gregory answered, "and I'm glad they're here. Maybe we can get answers for the people of this city."

Neither Shawn Taylor nor Chief Bryan Morris has spoken to NewsChannel 5 since this investigation began, but the chief did speak to a local news source, telling the Smokey Barn News that this is, in his words, all political.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the search occurred Tuesday. It was, in fact, Wednesday.