U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) said he received a response from the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis regarding his request for inmate Stewart Parks, who is serving his eight-month sentence for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to be moved to the prison’s minimum security satellite camp.
On February 13, Ogles sent a letter to Warden F.J. Bowers of the FCI in Memphis requesting that Parks be moved to the satellite camp for the duration of his incarceration, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
Ogles gave the warden until February 17 to respond; however, he revealed on Wednesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that he received a response this week, roughly five days after the deadline.
“We sent a letter to Warden Bowers, there was a deadline on it for him to respond. We did get a response yesterday, which was roughly five days beyond the deadline. So it’s under review and we’ve also come to learn that apparently there’s a new warden in place, but we continue to be proactive and try to get Stewart moved out of the current facility with rapists and child molesters into one of the other facilities,” Ogles said. “There’s a number of options and one of them could be a satellite facility, but the main thing is to get him removed into a more safe environment, more conducive and what would be equal to the “crime.” If you look, he walked into the capitol, whether you agree with that or not, but he didn’t break anything, he didn’t destroy anything, he didn’t hurt anybody and yet he’s in a federal prison with rapists.”
“That clearly should trouble everyone,” Ogles added.
Moving forward, Ogles said his office will continue to be “proactive” by contacting the prison and checking Parks’ condition.
“We have someone that was treated unjustly. Stewart’s a nice guy, one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He’s a young man, a young entrepreneur. He’s a patriot, truly loves this country, and the idea that he would be treated the way he’s being treated in the facility that he’s in is disturbing,” Ogles said. “It’s heartbreaking. I really don’t know if I can describe it, but I’m troubled by it…We want to make sure that we’re proactive and get him out of there.”
Ogles went on to compare Parks’ treatment to that of former President Donald Trump, noting how “woke” district attorneys and judges are targeting former presidents, working-class people, and “everyone in between.”
“You look at Donald Trump, whether you like Trump or don’t like Trump, you have these woke district attorneys and woke judges singling out an individual. And now from our case, the Fifth Congressional District, you see on the low end, the working class person is being targeted. And then a former president of the United States. That means everybody in between. If they don’t like you politically, if they don’t like your religion or your politics or whatever, they can, and they’re demonstrating, they will single you out if they can find a way,” Ogles said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
