Tag: Sgt. Rob Forrest

Megan Barry, Who Had Adulterous Affair With Subordinate on Taxpayers’ Dime, Lands Job Teaching Women About Political Tribulations at Fisk University

Jason M. Reynolds

Proving that politicians are adept at coming out ahead no matter what, disgraced former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has landed a job — teaching women about the trials and tribulations of politics at Fisk University. Barry began teaching a “Women in Politics” class three weeks ago, Fox 17 News reporter Harriet Wallace said. On March 6, 2018, Barry resigned as the first female mayor of Nashville. She entered a conditional plea, or diversion, on felony theft of property over $10,000 with three years’ unsupervised probation and $11,000 in restitution, The Tennessee Star reported at the time. She was not convicted, so if she follows her requirements, she can have her record expunged after three years. The now ex-mayor, who was married, admitted to having an affair with her married bodyguard, Sgt. Rob. Forrest of the Metro Nashville Police Department, including times he was clocked in and was on overtime. Forrest earned $75,462 in overtime during the 2016-17 fiscal year. WSMV reported Fisk’s statement about Barry’s job: Megan Barry is currently teaching a spring semester class at Fisk University. As a University, we believe that Mrs. Barry can provide valuable insight into the role of women in public life. Several students have already expressed their appreciation…

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Metro Nashville Police Make Changes to Mayor Megan Barry’s Security Detail After Affair Debacle

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The Metro Nashville Police Department says it is making changes to Mayor Megan Barry’s security detail as a result of the inappropriate relationship she admitted having with her former security chief and the suspicious amount of overtime it cost the City and taxpayers. An MNPD spokesperson told Fox17 that the Mayor’s daily schedule is both long and complex, so overtime will likely still be a factor. Barry’s new head of security is Chris West, who was assigned the role by MNPD after Forrest’s abrupt departure. Fox17 reports that West has “arranged for one of the full-time detail members to come in later every day on a rotating basis so that individual can cover the afternoon/evening hours with minimal overtime if any at all.” Of the new changes, Political Strategist Steve Gill told the news station, “I think this is a classic closing the barn door after all the horses have all gotten out. This is way to little way too late,” adding: I think the main thing is they want to know who’s serving when so they’re allocating overtime or reducing overtime, and also having some control over whether it’s an event where she needs security. If she’s going to some social…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Heckled During Public Transit Meeting: ‘You Need to Resign! You’re a Disgrace!’

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During a public meeting about the ambitious $9 billion transit plan at Watkins College in Bordeaux Monday, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was heckled by a lone protester, who stood up and yelled, “You need to resign!” “You need to leave because we are trying to talk about transit,” Barry retorted. As the man was quickly led out of the sparsely attended meeting, he said, “You need to resign! You’re a disgrace. You’re an embarrassment…. I voted for you – you’re a disgrace.” WKRN cameras were rolling and caught the entire incident on video. Citizens in and around Nashville and across the state have been roiled by a series of tawdry revelations after Barry admitted to a years-long affair with her chief of security, former Sgt. Rob Forrest. Concerns over the possible misuse of public funds to carry on, and then cover up the Mayor’s dalliance has sparked several investigations by different state and city agencies including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct, and a Metro Council Special Committee. As The Tennessee Star previously reported: It also highlights a growing concern about a lack of checks and balances and the failure to apply standard internal controls to financial…

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Wife of Sgt. Rob Forrest, the Former Bodyguard and Lover of Mayor Megan Barry, Files for Divorce

Tennessee Star Staff

Penny Forrest, the wife of Sgt. Rob Forrest, the former Metro Nashville Police Department officer who conducted a two-year long extramarital affair with Nashville Megan Mayor Barry, has filed for divorce. WKRN reported: Court documents show the complaint was filed on Feb. 23 and cites irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. According to the divorce complaint, Penny Forrest would show that her husband “has been guilty of inappropriate marital conduct as to render further cohabitation unsafe and improper.” “Saturday, Rob Forrest’s attorney released the following statement regarding the divorce filing,” NewsChannel 5 reported: Mr. Forrest is aware he will shortly be served with divorce papers. He deeply regrets that his conduct will cost him his marriage. Given the intensely personal nature of a divorce, Mr. Forrest asks for privacy for his family at this difficult time. Mr. Forrest and I will have no further statement. “The divorce complaint also includes a temporary injunction,” WSMV reported: According to the American Bar Association, a temporary injunction is a court order requiring both parties to cease some particular action until a hearing can take place. Failure to do so can result in fines, arrest, or even prison time depending on the circumstances of…

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OFF THE RECORD: Mayor Barry to Lover’s Father-in-Law – Can You Guess My Secret?

Chris Alto

Hubris alert! No shame! Too big to fall! If it isn’t bad enough that Mayor Moonbeam Barry is using our money to travel out-of-town and overseas to consummate her trysts with bodyguard Sgt. Robert Forrest, she visited, hugged and smiled with Sgt. Forrest’s father-in-law–at least according to what one Tennessee Star reader says is a now deleted October 2017 Facebook post–while he was sick in the hospital during the time she was having her affair with the husband of the guy’s daughter!!!! The mayor might have been motivated by concern and kindness, but, considering the circumstances, the brazenness of the mayor in her visit does seem a tad on the tacky side. But perhaps her visit is only a reflection of how Barry perceives her job and power as mayor. She has a sign in her office that says, “Power is about waking up every day and making a difference in someone else’s life.” Or “lives” perhaps in light of the mayor’s recent two years of committing adultery. A reader sent us the NOW DELETED pictures from Sgt. Forrest’s mother-in-law’s Facebook page of the mayor’s hospital visit with Sgt. Forrest’s father-in-law. The pictures with the mayor, “a special visitor,” were posted on October 14,…

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Mayor Barry’s Office Attempts to Explain ‘Computer Glitch’ Authorized by COO That Allowed Chief of Staff to Approve Bodyguard Lover’s Travel Under Police Chief’s Name

Tennessee Star Staff

Three members of Mayor Barry’s staff and the department head of Information Technology Services are scrambling to explain just exactly how it came to be that travel by her security chief and lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, was not authorized by Police Chief Steve Anderson, as documents the Mayor’s office gave to NewsChannel 5 and Fox17 on Friday purported, but was instead authorized by her Chief of Staff, Debby Mason (pictured above). “Months after Mayor Megan Barry began an extramarital affair with her bodyguard [which Mayor Barry told WSMV on Friday began in spring of 2016], one of the mayor’s top aides, [Chief Operating Officer] Rich Riebeling, made an ‘unusual’ change to security protocol,” The Tennessean reported late Monday. “Instead of following a longstanding policy that the police department pay for the travel expenses incurred by officers on Barry’s security detail, the mayor’s office began approving and paying for those expenses out of its own budget,” The Tennessean reported. “The mayor’s chief of staff Debby Dale Mason assumed the authority to approve travel expenses on October 11, 2016, for all of the mayor’s bodyguards, including Forrest,” The Tennessean added. Apparently no one in the Mayor’s office, however, informed the official who…

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Mayor’s Office Confirms Sgt. Forrest Was Only Metro Nashville Security Officer to Travel With Megan Barry to 2016 DNC, Claims Trip Was ‘Appropriate’ City Business, Expenses Paid by Campaign

Tennessee Star Staff

Sean Braisted, Director of Communications for the Mayor’s Office, has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Mayor Megan Barry’s lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, was the only Metro Nashville security officer assigned to travel with the mayor when she attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 2016. Mayor Barry has previously claimed that Forrest only accompanied her out of state as a security officer when paid by Metro Nashville when she was traveling on official city business. Barry attended the Democratic National Convention not on city business, but on political and personal business as a delegate committed to Hillary Clinton. Braisted failed to respond directly to The Star’s request that he identify the specific city business Barry conducted at the Democratic National Convention. Instead, he asserted that Barry “met with many other mayors, as well as state and federal officials during the course of this trip.” He also fell back on a previous statement by Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson in explaining why Forrest was assigned to accompany Mayor Barry on this trip, and presumably, was paid by Metro Nashville to do so. “As Chief Anderson has said, the mayor is the mayor wherever she is and…

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