Stewart Parks, former Republican candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District and January 6 defendant who was recently sentenced to eight months in prison, sat down with the Editor-in-chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star Michael Patrick Leahy in the latest episode of the Tennessee Star Extra.
In today’s Tennessee Star Extra, @michaelpleahy interviews J6 defendant Stewart Parks about his claim Federal Judge Amit Mehta “colluded” with DOJ prosecutors to convict him and sentence him to 8 months in prison. pic.twitter.com/97wfp91Njv
— Tennessee Star (@TheTNStar) November 21, 2023
D.C. Circuit Court Judge Amit P. Mehta, who has presided over several trials related to the January 6 Capitol riots, sentenced Parks last week to three years on misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges, but he will serve his sentence concurrently, reducing his term to eight months behind bars.
Parks previously told The Star that he plans to appeal his conviction and sentencing.
On this week’s Tennessee Star Extra episode, Parks, who was in the U.S. Capitol for approximately 30 minutes on January 6, said, “Just one day in jail is an injustice for peacefully attending an event in Washington D.C.”
During the interview, Parks also detailed the 2021 FBI raid on his residence in Columbia, Tennessee, on June 3 at 5:53 a.m., where FBI agents, armed with machine guns and in full body armor, kicked in his door and shattered his windows.
Parks said approximately five or six FBI agents raided his residence while he was asleep and apprehended him while he was only wearing boxers and gym shorts.
The FBI agents, according to Parks, then proceeded to escort him through his front yard – as neighbors watched – to an unmarked black Jeep outside the residence.
Parks said as he was escorted to the vehicle, he saw law enforcement vehicles lining his street “as far as the eye can see,” describing his arrest as a parade of some sort.
“They just made an open show of my arrest,” Parks said.
Parks said he was then driven to an unmarked brick building where he was escorted in by the FBI agents and uncuffed before being interviewed by the agents on his involvement at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Parks said the agents did not advise him of his Miranda rights, and when he asked for an attorney, he was put in handcuffs again and escorted back to the unmarked Jeep before being transported to the Davidson County Jail.
Parks said he was escorted in by the U.S. Marshals, where he had his mugshot taken and was booked into the jail with shackles on his feet.
“When I was in the jail, there were other people in orange suits and the FBI stayed close to me as if I was Public Enemy #1. And I can remember getting stares…They put me in my own cell, too, away from the others, and I can remember the other prisoners looking through, thinking, “What did this guy do?” The FBI stayed near my cell, it was like they were keeping their eyes on me the whole time whereas the other inmates were handcuffed, put in the orange suit, and then put in a cell, unwatched,” Parks explained.
Parks said he was released from the jail on his own bond around 2:00 p.m. that same day.
Towards the end of the interview, Parks said he is prepared and will comply with his sentence if his appeal fails and is asking the public to pray for him.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
It’s called “stacking the charges.” They pile on vague and overlapping charges in hopes that you will plead to a few of them. It’s to make it look like they are willing to help you by reducing the charges. A common tactic with police and prosecutors. (*Not all use it though)