Unjustly convicted and imprisoned January 6 defendant Stewart Parks called in to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday to give an update on his life in prison, specifically to discuss how he and other inmates are being mistreated by the prison’s staff.
Parks is currently serving an eight-month prison term for misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges related to his presence at the January 6 Capitol riot. He self-reported to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis on February 7.
During his 15-minute phone call with host Leahy on Monday, Parks detailed the mistreatment of inmates at FCI Memphis, including one instance last week on Memorial Day where families and friends of inmates who had scheduled visits were abruptly turned away and not granted their scheduled time.
“This is one of the hundreds and thousands of questions why we’re being mistreated like this. My parents and my friend drove all the way from Nashville and they were denied visitation time. Nobody was able to see their loved ones in prison,” Parks said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“They didn’t give a reason. They just walked my parents out of the door and locked it. Families were coming in to see their loved ones and they just locked people out. They didn’t give them a reason,” Parks added.
Parks went on to say that he believes part of the reason inmates are being mistreated and being denied the privilege to see visitors with scheduled times is due to “severe staffing shortages” of personnel at the prison.
“I’ve seen guards working crazy hours. They just lock us up. People don’t show up to work to man the yard and units. They just lock us up and give us sacks of bologna for lunch or dinner. It’s awful,” Parks said.
Parks also discussed the prison’s mishandling of his case when it comes to granting him the privilege of being sent to a halfway house, as he originally anticipated being sent to one this month.
“It looks like I’m not going to get to take advantage of the privilege of [going to a halfway house.] That was supposed to start around June 14 which is about 10 days away from now. And now to think, ‘Well, maybe the middle of July. Maybe you’ll go to the halfway house.’ So I’m furious, I’m demanding answers, and I’m fed up with this federal incompetence. I’m fed up. This week is my four month anniversary of me being held hostage here in this third world prison. I’m fed up and I demand to be out,” Parks said.
In terms of his life in prison, Parks said he maintains “perfect behavior” by avoiding confrontation with the guards.
“Part of the reason for my perfect behavior is because I haven’t gone out, I stay in my cell. It’s so crazy, you know the guards screaming at people and telling them that they don’t have any privileges. They scream at me, like tell me to hurry up and eat when I’m talking to other January 6 inmates. So I have been treated well in the sense that I stay away from the guards, but I shouldn’t have to do that,” Parks said.
“It’s just prison life. That’s why I share all this on live TV to warn people they better get out and vote and make sure there’s no election fraud. Get Trump in office or there’s going to be many innocent people going to jail, going through this hell I’m going through,” Parks added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Stewart Parks” by Stewart Parks.
