Every parent and child in Bulloch County knows him—for the smiles he spreads, the magic tricks he shares, and for the dedication he has to the youth. But when his quiet act of kindness spread beyond the county's lines recently, it was met with mockery and shaming instead of understanding, choosing to judge him for one thing and one thing alone: his weight.
Sergeant Bubba Revell, a 51-year-old school resource officer (SRO), isn't light by any means. He's dealt with body shaming and bullying all his life, growing accustomed to the cruelty of the comments; yet this didn't stop Revell from using his experiences to advocate for the youth and it certainly didn't stop him from becoming a shield for children facing cyberbullying or body shaming, even as the degrading comments on a Facebook video of him congratulating seniors on their graduation poured in by the minute.
The Bulloch County Sheriffs Office has always had a tradition of congratulating seniors on their graduation by making a short video—it was nothing new.
"I just want to congratulate the class of 2025," said Revell in a video posted on Thursday, May 15, 2025, that quickly went viral. "Awesome job on the first chapter of your life—the 2025 class really has a special place in my heart."
The videos were posted on Facebook and were conducted by different School Resource Officers in the Bulloch County Sheriffs Office, most of which only received a couple hundred likes and a handful of comments, but Revell's video made it further than Bulloch County, receiving at last count over 2.8 million views, 10.8k likes and 12.9k comments, many of which were laced with venom as they targeted his weight rather than the encouraging message he was spreading.
Even so, Revell managed to spin the hatred into a positive message with the help of Davis Marketing Company, using one of the comments that said he looked like a barricade to create the name Barricade Bubba, a symbol of child advocacy and protection. In his response video, Revell provides information on how to respond to bullies and resources for children to go to in the case that they are being bullied.
"Here in Bulloch County, we don't cower down to bullies; we stand up," said Revell in his response to the negative comments. "If I need to be the barricade that stands in between you and our children, then that's what I'll do."
The message was powerful enough, but this response was no stranger to the citizens of Bulloch County. Standing up for kids, using his voice to speak out against bullying and showing up—day after day—is what he's been doing for years.
It started with dropping off some paper plates for two of his closest friends at their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer graduation, where he soon realized one very important thing: this is what he wanted to do—protect, help, and educate kids. Revell went through the police academy in order to become a DARE officer, and upon graduating, he became the first reserve deputy in the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office, volunteering his time and energy while working at a convenience store to support himself financially.
Shortly after graduation, Revell realized that DARE was not yet implemented in all county schools; he then set a new goal for himself and began to make the steps to have DARE serviced in all public county schools—soon enough, it even made its way into private schools, along with the implementation of Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT).
Revell also helped Lieutenant Jimmy Billings introduce a new program known as Law Enforcement Exploring (Explorers program), a hands-on program open to kids ages 14-21 and designed to introduce them to the role of a law enforcement officer or a sheriff.
Revell was also instrumental in the establishment of the Bulloch County Sheriff's Foundation, a program designed to help local youth achieve opportunities they might not have had access to without the foundation's financial support. Whether it's funding extracurricular activities, supporting the youths' educational goals, or simply making sure a kid has a meal for the day, this program deeply reflects Revell's passion and care for the youth.
He went on to become the first Bulloch SRO alongside another deputy, having only volunteered his time without pay until he was officially hired by the sheriff.
"You really can't go nowhere with Bubba without somebody seeing him and running up to him and giving him a hug," said Sergeant Ross Newman, who became an SRO in 2017. "He's just loved by the kids and they think the world of him."
Though fully certified and capable of carrying out the same duties as any other deputy—from performing traffic stops to making arrests—Revell's true calling has always been with the youth, where his commitment to the community of Bulloch County doesn't just stop at law enforcement. Instead, it goes much further as he continues to use his voice to empower those who’ve been silenced.