For eight years, investigative journalist Matthew Oliver Reardon (also known as Don Matthews) has faced escalating retaliation from Mississippi authorities. His “offense”? Exposing corruption and exercising his constitutional rights.
Since 2017, Matthew has endured false arrests, coerced pleas, forced psychiatric commitments, probation traps, and repeated incarceration. Each time he spoke out, the pressure intensified. He was banished from his community. Labeled unstable. Jailed without bond. Silenced when he attempted to report misconduct.
In 2022, after conducting a First Amendment audit at Oxford City Hall, he was arrested on an inflated felony stalking charge based largely on critical tweets and a short public video of him walking into City Hall to conduct Journalistic Activity. While his four-month-old son fought for life in a neonatal ICU, Matthew learned that his wife's employment was terminated unexpectedly. After more than 3 months incarcerated without bond, he was pressured into a plea deal under threat of further pre-trial detention, a stacked trial, and his wife (Madelyn) and kids health and safety threatened with the abrupt termination of Madelyn's employment. When he later attempted to withdraw that plea, he was jailed again without meaningful due process.
Ten days after his release in 2023, he was pulled over in Galveston, Texas at 2 a.m. and arrested for felony DWI despite not having consumed alcohol. Officers refused a breath test and forcibly drew his blood while he was restrained.
Matthew spent 11 months in the Galveston County Jail fighting that charge.
Before trial, he was extradited to Mississippi, where his probation was revoked based on the Texas arrest. He was sentenced to two years in prison and served approximately six additional months incarcerated there.
In total, Matthew spent nearly a year and a half incarcerated stemming from a charge that ultimately collapsed. The Texas DWI case was dismissed. In January 2025, the Mississippi sentence tied to that arrest was vacated. He walked free — vindicated — but financially devastated.
While incarcerated, everything he owned was stripped away. His vehicle was sold at auction while he sat in jail unable to defend his property. He was released not to stability, but to near-total loss.
There is a difficult reality about incarceration, even when it is unlawful: inside prison, basic needs are structured. When someone is suddenly released after long-term incarceration — especially into a weakened or fractured support system — the instability can be overwhelming. In Matthew’s case, years of retaliation had already strained every safety net. He walked out with no income, no vehicle, no financial cushion, and limited support — forced to rebuild from zero while continuing legal battles.
Most urgently, nearly 18 months of incarceration, compounded by years of retaliation, significantly worsened Matthew’s service-connected PTSD.
He currently cannot afford the medication required to manage it. Before he can fully continue advocacy work, he needs basic medical stability.
Your support will help provide Immediate Stabilization to include :
• Safe housing
• Food and transportation
• PTSD medication and medical appointments
• Much needed Vehicle Repairs for a vehicle he was able to obtain upon being released
Ongoing Advocacy & Public Awareness
• Publishing American Injustice (print, audiobook, and free e-book release)
• Completing and distributing the Bad Actors music album
• Travel related to journalism, court proceedings, and advocacy
This fundraiser is not about comfort. It is about survival, health, and continuing the pursuit of accountability.
Donate if you can. Share if you cannot. Both matter.