Decatur Co. man arrested, accused of making online threats

DECATUR COUNTY, Tenn. — Authorities say 53-year-old Scotty Priest is behind bars Sunday night after making online threats toward law enforcement.

“He put some threats on Facebook the other night and talked about long-range head shots and things like that and specifically named one officer’s name,” Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd told WBBJ Sunday afternoon. “It put all of us kind of uneasy about the whole thing.”

Sheriff Byrd said Priest was arrested in Russellville, Ky., Sunday evening without incident. Whether the threats were real or not, they took them seriously.

“We don’t know how credible his threats are or whether he was just mouthing off on Facebook,” Byrd said. “But credible or not, you can’t take a chance.”

Those who live nearby told WBBJ crews it makes them uneasy knowing someone in their community made threats like these.

“It’s kind of shocking that someone would threaten the police like that, but for something like that to come here, man, it’s really shocking. It’s really crazy,” Chesterfield resident Michael Menzies said.

Authorities said the U.S. Marshals service, FBI and Homeland Security were involved in the search and capture of Priest.

He’s expected to be charged with attempt to commit an act of terrorism and harassment.