Unjustly incarcerated January 6 defendant Stewart Parks, who was released from a Nashville halfway house last week marking his official exit from federal custody, detailed his nearly six month experience in a federal prison during an exclusive interview with The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday.
Parks was sentenced in November 2023 to three years imprisonment on misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges by D.C. Circuit Court Judge Amit P. Mehta, who has presided over several trials related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Parks, however, served his sentence concurrently, reducing his term to eight months behind bars.
Despite not having a criminal history or history of violence, Parks was ordered to serve out his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis instead of a minimum security satellite camp.
After serving more than five months of his eight-month prison term at FCI Memphis, which he self-reported to on February 7, Parks officially exited federal custody on August 5 upon his release from a Nashville halfway house.
Reminiscing back to the day he surrendered at FCI Memphis, Stewart said prison staff branded him as part of the “Trump gang” for being a J6 inmate.
“When I first got in there, it was funny. I showed up and I’m in a suit, well dressed…and they didn’t even realize it was me. They thought it was my dad who was dressed casually. So they were just shocked that I was in there. So they took me to the regular screening and they photographed me, trying to see if I have any tattoos. I remember at one point they asked, ‘Are you part of any gangs?’ And I said no, and then they said, ‘Oh you’re part of the Trump gang’,” Parks said.
Parks said for being a J6 inmate, he initially thought he wouldn’t be well received by other inmates; however, was surprised by the warm reception he ended up receiving.
“I say this in the humblest of terms, I was really shocked at the reception of the inmates,” Parks said.
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