Man charged in Capitol riot calls self 'political prisoner of war'
Jun. 22—A former Trinity man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol considers himself a "political prisoner of war" who has endured "horrific terror" and rebuilt his life so he can begin helping veterans overcome obstacles, according to a short biography on the website of his new business.
Bradley Stuart Bennett, 43, recently posted on the business-oriented social mediasite LinkedIn about his new venture and linking to its website, writing, "I'm happy to share that I am launching Man of Valor, the World's Greatest Adventure Company & Brotherhood!"
The website for the business, which is still under construction and not fully operational, describes "live camp experience" events starting with one in mid-September, about a month before Bennett is scheduled to stand trial in Washington, D.C. Bennett faces multiple charges, including going into the Capitol, but he is not accused of violence or attacking police.
Attempts to reach Bennett for comment were not successful.
A section of the homepage labeled "Meet Brad Bennett" says in part that he is "fun loving, brutally honest, yet fair, and very RESILIENT" and a "True Patriot & Builder of others."
"After growing up in small town suburban North Carolina, and taking risks to work in 18 nations by the end of his 20s, in time he started to see a massively deep erosion of manhood & leadership, whether self-created or culturally affected," the website says. "In 2021, he was targeted for speaking the truth, and is a modern day political Prisoner of War. Falsely accused, slandered, mocked, lied about & then jailed, Brad was shockingly held in deplorable conditions for 152 days without any medical care, toiletries or laundry. He was intentionally isolated & starved for 57 of those days in Federal custody, held without Trial or a conviction."
Bennett was arrested when he turned himself in on April 12, 2021. After his arraignment, a federal judge ordered that he continue to be held in jail, citing evidence that Bennett spent nearly three weeks actively dodging the FBI, going to unusual lengths to communicate with friends in ways that could not be traced and threw his cellphone somewhere along Interstate 77 as he drove to Charlotte to turn himself in. Most of his incarceration was spent in Washington, D.C.
Just under two months later, without objections from prosecutors a federal judge on June 4, 2021, approved releasing Bennett to house arrest under his sister's supervision but living at his uncle's house in Trinity, which apparently is where Bennett feels he was "held in deplorable conditions."
In several court hearings on the case in the latter half of 2021, neither Bennett nor his lawyer complained of his living conditions. By early February 2022 Bennett was no longer under house arrest and was free to travel, only having to keep in touch with a probation officer.
"He somehow resiliently endured this horrific terror, & began to put the pieces of his destroyed life back together," the website says.
He then wanted to build something to help "others become Overcomers also, to rewrite their own stories, to Unleash the Lion within," it says.
The "About" section of Bennett's LinkedIn page indicates he started Man of Valor in July 2022, and it says he now lives in the Concord area.
