Capitol suspect’s story touches on conspiracy era
Former G’town student faces charges, lawsuit
Matt Bledsoe is a former student at Germantown High School who now faces federal charges related to the Capitol riot — he's accused of illegally entering the building with a pro-trump mob and documenting the act with photos and videos on social media.
As these social media images circulated online in January, many Memphis residents quickly noted that Bledsoe owns a local moving business, Prime Time Movers. In the weeks since the 36year-old's arrest, more details of Bledsoe's life have emerged.
Bledsoe's lawyer recently told a judge his client believed in a Qanon conspiracy theory that held high-profile Trump opponents would be executed. And The Commercial Appeal's research found that even before the federal charges were filed, Bledsoe had a history of legal trouble.
He was arrested at least three times more than a decade ago on charges of driving under the influence and other driving-related counts. He faced a domestic violence arrest in October. And he and his wife now face a civil lawsuit related to a motor vehicle crash. That crash lawsuit seeks $400,000 in damages and could threaten the future of the business Bledsoe operates.
“What happened on January 6th was no fantasy. Not for the people inside the Capitol, not for the country. So the defendant is entitled to his belief. He can believe Qanon theories. He can believe the earth is flat. But he is not entitled to break the law.” Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, the top federal judge in Washington
The available public records also raise another link to Germantown High — the FBI accuses Bledsoe of participating in the Jan. 6 riot along with another man who identified himself as a former Germantown High student, Blake Austin Reed of Nashville.
The Bledsoe story touches on some of the most important trends of our time: the rise of conspiracy theories and political violence, and the former president's willingness to use these forces for his own ends.
It's not clear what drew Bledsoe to the Capitol riot.
Most of the people who could fill in blank spaces in his biography and explain his thinking either could not be reached or declined to comment for this article.
His mother declined to comment, and efforts to reach other relatives were unsuccessful.
Bledsoe's lawyers wouldn't comment. Efforts to reach his wife for comment were unsuccessful. And Bledsoe isn't saying much either.
"Prime Time Movers, this is Matt," Bledsoe said as he answered his business phone on Feb. 5.
When a reporter identified herself, he disconnected.
Attorney for Bledsoe discusses his Qanon beliefs
Bledsoe has pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor counts related to entering the Capitol and committing disorderly conduct. He is not charged with property destruction or violence, and he's free while the case is pending.
He's required to wear a GPS ankle monitor, and recently asked a judge to remove it.
In a Friday court appearance conducted remotely, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, the top federal judge in Washington, mentioned a text message Bledsoe had reportedly sent to his wife on Jan. 10, after the riot: “They are all going to be executed.”
“I take that very seriously,” the judge said.
Bledsoe's attorney, Jerry Smith, said many believers of the Qanon conspiracy theory think certain people will be arrested by authorities for crimes they have committed and will be executed.
Qanon is a pro-trump conspiracy theory which holds, among other things, that top Democrats and others are child-eating pedophiles and that Trump will overthrow them. The lawyer didn't elaborate on Bledsoe's belief in the theory.
The judge dismissed the belief as fantasy. “I think people who believe in Qanon conspiracies, when they appear in court, will face reality,” she said.
She said Bledsoe's conduct was too serious to ignore.
“What happened on January 6th was no fantasy," the judge said. "Not for the people inside the Capitol, not for the country. So the defendant is entitled to his belief. He can believe Qanon theories. He can believe the earth is flat.”
“But he is not entitled to break the law." She denied his request to remove the GPS monitor.
Germantown High, and a crash in 2000
The recent arrest has highlighted Bledsoe's ties to a local high school. An FBI affidavit says Bledsoe took part in the riot along with Blake Austin Reed, 35, of Nashville, the Associated Press reported.
The FBI said both men had profiles on the professional networking site Linkedin and both reported attending Germantown High School between 2000 and 2002. Reed was also arrested and has not yet entered a plea, according to online court records. Efforts to reach his attorney for comment were unsuccessful Wednesday.
The Commercial Appeal contacted more than 30 former students who attended Germantown High School between 2000 and 2002. Each of them said they didn't remember Bledsoe. A reporter on Wednesday also asked several former students again about the other man, Reed, but none responded.
However, Bledsoe's attendance at the school is mentioned in records from a lawsuit.
On Oct. 8, 2000 Bledsoe, then a 16year-old, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another teenager, Tristan Lyons.
According to a Shelby County Circuit Court lawsuit filed by Bledsoe's parents the following year, the driver lost control of the vehicle on Cotton Plant Road in the Germantown area and smashed into a tree.
Bledsoe was taken to the Regional One Medical Center by ambulance. According to court records, he suffered a bruised lung and a broken bone in his spine. His parents filed suit against the driver.
Reached this month, Lyons, the driver of the vehicle, said he's still friends with the Bledsoe family and declined to comment.
Bledsoe recovered completely from his injuries, according to the records, though a doctor recommended he stop participating in high school wrestling. He was awarded a settlement.
The original plan called for Bledsoe to collect at least $15,000 at age 25 and at least $71,100 at age 30, according to court records. Other payments were apparently also part of the settlement.
In 2010, Bledsoe reached an agreement with an outside company, J.G. Wentworth Originations, that allowed him to receive part of his payment early. In 2014, explaining the agreement in an affidavit, he wrote, "I am currently employed by Big League Movers as a mover, earning approximately $20,000 annually . . . I wish to use the transfer of my future payments to help with legal fees and relocation."
The document doesn't describe which legal fees he meant, but at this point in his life, Bledsoe had already been arrested at least three times.
DUI and reckless driving cases
In July 2006, he was stopped while driving by Germantown police and charged with reckless driving, evading arrest and filing a false report.
He would eventually plead guilty to evading arrest and a charge related to filing a false offense report. He was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail, but most of the sentence was suspended, and he served two days, according to online records.
In mid-june 2007, he was arrested on a driving under the influence charge. Bledsoe later pleaded guilty to his second DUI offense, according to online records. (It's not clear where and when the first DUI charge took place — the 2006 arrest was not a DUI.) A Shelby County judge sentenced him to 11 months and 29 days in jail but suspended most of it. In total, Bledsoe was locked up four days.
In May of 2009, Bledsoe was arrested in another DUI case.
The incident resulted in five criminal charges against Bledsoe — driving under the influence, violation of seat belt law, violation of the open container law, reckless driving and refusal to submit to a blood-alcohol test.
All charges were dropped by prosecutors in 2012. The paper records related to the case don't explain why.
Bledsoe then went several years without getting into legal trouble in Shelby County, according to available records.
Bledsoe's company, Prime Time Movers, incorporated with the state of Tennessee in 2016.
October 2020 domestic violence arrest
Then-memphis Police Department officers responded to Bledsoe's home in Cordova on October 25. He was accused of attacking his wife.
"The victim stated that she has a history of domestic violence from her husband/suspect," a police incident report says. "However, they have two daughters ages 4 yrs and 6 yrs. The victim stated that the suspect threatens to take daughters. Because of this threat, the victim has never called the police."
The narrative includes the victim's account of an escalating argument: "The victim stated that the suspect picked her up by the throat, and threw her down in front of the 75'' TV, breaking it. The victim broke free, and ran to her bedroom."
"The victim stated that she called 911 twice. The first time, the suspect grabbed the phone away from the victim. The second time, the oldest daughter told the dispatcher that her father was chasing her mother around the house, hurting her."
The victim had a "road rash" type injury on her knee, the incident report says.
Bledsoe was arrested, according to the MPD incident report.
However, no record of an ongoing criminal case could be found in the local court system. A clerk at Shelby County General Sessions Court said the record may have been expunged.
A spokesman for the Shelby County prosecutor's office, Larry Buser, said he could not locate any records related to the case.
A civil lawsuit seeking $400,000
Court records suggest that after the reported domestic violence incident, Matt Bledsoe and his wife have worked together to defend themselves in a civil lawsuit related to a motor vehicle crash.
The Shelby County Circuit Court lawsuit was filed in March 2020. The complaint by 77-year-old Arlington resident Ethel Childress says she was riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, when Matt Bledsoe's wife turned left in front of the vehicle and caused a crash.
The crash took place on U.S. 64, near Rockcreek Parkway.
The lawsuit alleges that Matt Bledsoe's wife was intoxicated at the time of the crash, and that she then drove away, pulled into the parking lot of El Mezcal restaurant, called her husband, who arrived and transferred alcoholic beverages into his own vehicle.
Medical records included in the lawsuit say that Childress was taken from the crash scene by ambulance and incurred $35,000 in medical bills. The suit against the Bledsoes and Prime Time Movers seeks a total of $300,000 in restitution and compensation, plus $100,000 in punitive damages.
Derek Fairchilds, a lawyer for the woman who was injured, said he included the company in the lawsuit because the vehicle involved in the crash had a sticker or similar logo for the moving company.
"We're in the process of trying to track down witnesses to the wreck," he said.
"We believe that there were at least one or two witnesses that followed her to the El Mezcal parking lot, where (Matt Bledsoe's wife) dropped her car and started walking down the street with what appeared to be beer in her hands."
He acknowledged that the filing is based on what lawyers call "information and belief."
"I can't say that with 100 percent certainty, but that's what we believe based on the facts we have."
He said Bledsoe's wife turned herself in to authorities a day or two after the crash.
Bledsoe's wife received traffic tickets related to the incident and was ordered to attend a defensive driving school, according to online court records. She was not charged with an alcohol-related offense.
In a written response contained in court records, the Bledsoes acknowledged that Matt Bledsoe's wife left the scene of the crash, then went to a parking lot and called her husband. But they denied that she drove while intoxicated or that they transferred alcohol out of her vehicle.
They said the 2012 GMC Yukon she was driving belonged to her husband, but did not belong to the moving company.
Attorney Melanie Stewart is representing the Bledsoes in the lawsuit and declined to comment Friday.
Bledsoe is scheduled to report back to court in March on the Capitol riot charges.
And a civil trial for the crash lawsuit is set to begin Nov. 1 — though given COVID-19 disruptions, it may be delayed.