Crime

ABC Student, Preacher, NAACP Branch President Fired From SRO Job

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — While considering his options, a former school resource officer denies using unnecessary force when he protected a sixth-grade boy from a bully.

Published

8 years ago

January 20, 2019

Oakland Post

By Clint Confehr

COLUMBIA, TN — While considering his options, a former school resource officer denies using unnecessary force when he protected a sixth-grade boy from a bully.

Maury County’s Civil Service Board on Jan. 8 voted 4-1 to confirm Sheriff Bucky Rowland’s dismissal of T.D. “Donte” Byrdsong in December, Byrdsong and Rowland said.

“We’re still going through a process; waiting and praying that the truth will come out,” Byrdsong said.

Byrdsong is an American Baptist College student, a pastor, and the NAACP branch president here.

“No one wins in this situation,” Rowland said Tuesday. “It’s a very, very unfortunate incident … Deputy Byrdsong is a good man. He’s done a lot of good things in his time serving here at the Sheriff’s Department … I had to make the decision that I felt best that would best represent me and this department in how we go out and serve our citizens.”

Byrdsong’s attorney, Doak Patton, can file a civil appeal, and District Attorney Brent Cooper might present charges to a grand jury. No charge was filed by Tuesday afternoon.

In this story, the “bully” is Quentin; the victim, Juan.

Quentin “assaulted Juan two times” Nov. 30 and earlier, Byrdsong said. In a fourth incident, “I intervened and stood between [them at the gym]. Quentin broke the hold of a teacher and ran back in an attempt to assault Juan again. I was between the two, talking with Juan. When I looked up, I saw Quentin … deflected him with an open hand … [He] attempted to assault Juan again … I grabbed him and took him to the floor.”

WKRN and The (Columbia) Daily Herald quote Rowland from the board hearing: “You don’t deal with grown men on the street like this…

“Byrdsong cuts him off … turns the student and takes four or five shuffle steps away,” Rowland reportedly said, suggesting other controls, including handcuffs. But Byrdsong “chose to pick this student up above his shoulder and slam him to the ground.”

Asked about Rowland, Byrdsong said, “I really enjoyed working with [him] and his officers. I respect the leadership position … I have no ill things to say about [him] … In his opinion, the force used to defend and protect one child from a bully was excessive, contrary to [testimony of] Melvin Brown, an expert witness” who spoke to the Civil Service Board.

“Quentin has a history of violent and aggressive behavior,” Byrdsong said. “He’d already assaulted other students. This is a bully.”

Quentin’s parent alleged he suffered a concussion.

Of more than a dozen Maury SROs, only one is a woman, Byrdsong said. To his knowledge, he is the county’s second black SRO. Now, there’s none.

Maury County was 57 percent white, 41 percent black and 3.26 percent Hispanic in 2000.

Byrdsong, 27, started as a correctional officer in October 2017 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. He was certified by the Police Officers Standards and Training Commission in spring 2018. He became an SRO in spring 2018, was a patrol deputy during summer break, and resumed SRO work last fall. His salary was nearly $16 per hour.

“There’s some financial hardship for lack of employment,” said Byrdsong, executive pastor of Grace United Baptist Church, Columbia.

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

COMMENTARY: Kamala Harris is Right Choice to ‘Save our Country’

Don't Miss

R. Kelly dropped from his record label

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Business

AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.