Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Tennessee’s 5th Congressional GOP candidate Stewart Parks in-studio to discuss his January 6 Capitol charges and resolution.
Leahy: We are joined now by Stewart Parks. He is one of nine candidates for the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District. He’s on the ballot for the primary election to be held on August 4th. Good morning, Stewart.
Parks: Good morning, sir.
Leahy: Sir, am I that old?
Parks: It’s a sign of respect.
Leahy: (Laughs) You are much younger than I am and in much better shape, I’ll tell you that. Stewart, tell everybody who you are, what your background is.
Parks: Yes, sir. Well, thank you for having me here. So my name is Stewart Parks, and I’m born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee.
I graduated from Volunteer State Community College with an associate degree and then from there transferred to Ole Miss and graduated with an economics degree.
I’ve been involved in real estate pretty much since the age of 18. I own several real estate companies here in Nashville. I love Southern history.
I’ve proudly restored two historic properties in the 5th District, one in downtown Columbia and the other in Cornersville, Tennessee, right there on the main road there.
Leahy: What are the properties – which property in Columbia?
Parks: I own several properties across Middle Tennessee, but these are my two favorites. The first one is a property that was built in 1830. And they tell me in the historical office in Maury County that it was owned by General William Arnold.
And then what’s really fascinating is after him, several property owners down the line, is a man by the name of Nathan Vaught. People in Maury County are really excited when they hear me name drop the name Nathan Vaught because he is known as the master builder of Maury County. And I can go down the list of famous stuff he’s done, like the Athenaeum, Rebecca Polk’s house.
Leahy: The Athenaeum down here is really something. A great thing.
Parks: Yes, sir. I’m really proud of this property because they tell me this is one of two known properties that he’s actually lived in. And I know where the other one is and I’m not telling anyone because I’ve been watching it. Yes, sir.
Leahy: So you have been doing real estate for how long here in Nashville?
Parks: I was actively involved with a number of real estate organizations since the age of 18. And it was really tough to be scooping up properties while I was in college. So once I got out of college, I started actively scooping up properties.
Leahy: You like scooping up properties?
Parks: I love scooping up properties. Yes, sir.
Leahy: So you love doing real estate?
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: And you’re making money at it.
Parks: God has blessed me. Yes, sir.
Leahy: Well, that’s good.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: How many years have you been doing real estate?
Parks: I’m 29 years old, so you could say about 10, 11 years.
Leahy: Yes. All right. Good. Now, there is a little bit of the legal issue you might want to share with us and our listeners. You are in a bit of legal jeopardy at the moment. Tell our listeners what that is all about.
Parks: Yes, sir. So I was peacefully present on January 6th.
Leahy: In Washington, D.C.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: At the Capitol.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: Did you go inside the Capitol?
Parks: There is footage released, all over social media as well as the criminal affidavit that was filed against me that I was at the Capitol.
Leahy: Inside the Capitol?
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: You’ve been indicted. or you’ve been charged. What’s your legal status and what have you been charged with?
Parks: Yes, sir. It is my understanding that the prosecutors were against me, and things change. They could be literally indicting me right now.
Leahy: So you’ve not been indicted?
Parks: It’s my understanding, my knowledge right now I have not been indicted. I was charged. They had a special signature from a judge that led to my arrest warrant and the arrest warrant was returned, which means I was arrested, I think it was June 3rd at 5:53 in the morning.
Leahy: So you are arrested on what charges?
Parks: So if my memory serves me correctly, I was arrested originally on seven charges. And literally, I’m sitting in jail, too. I’m getting thrown away. So as of right now, I’m facing five charges.
Leahy: What’s the most severe of those five charges?
Parks: The legal experts and my lawyer have explained to me that these are just minor misdemeanors. They’re just the equivalent of a DUI.
Leahy: Give us one of them.
Parks: Yes. A lot of these are just like trespassing. I’m actually being falsely accused of stealing an item. And I’m not a thief. I would never in a million years steal even a penny. And so to me, that’s, like, the most insulting is to accuse me of theft.
Leahy: What’s the resolution of that case look like to be, what’s the next step on that case?
Parks: Let me think, because April 1st was, some key decisions were going to be made and my co-defendant had made a decision to reach a plea agreement, and so that kind of threw off the timeline. I think I need to double-check about the last … I was told May 31st is my next court appearance.
Leahy: Next court appearance. May 31st.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: All right, well, got that out there. We’ll see how that plays out.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Leahy: You may be one of the few people who are running for this seat who’s actually been arrested on these kinds of charges from January 6th. Very controversial. But you’ve not been convicted of any crime.
Parks: No, sir.
Leahy: You have been arrested, and you have a court case.
Parks: Yes, sir.
Listen to the interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Stewart Parks” by Stewart Parks. Background Photo “Capitol Riot” by TapTheForwardAssist CC BY-SA 4.0.
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