Image Credit: @MrAndyNgo / X & background image by Brian Stansberry / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
After an FBI raid of his residence on April 30, 2025, a left-wing influencer from Powell, TN was charged with child sex crimes as he partnered with another man from Michigan to coerce a minor into sending explicit photos online.
Joseph Felix Brandon (known on social media as Josh Brandon), an Antifa activist and self-proclaimed actor, is accused of conspiring with Michael Bledsoe of Haslett, Michigan, to pose as a young girl online to convince Bledsoe’s 15-year-old niece to send nude photos and videos of herself.
Court documents show Brandon used Kik, a social media messaging app, to communicate with Bledsoe about plans to use Snapchat to forge a friendship with the niece by pretending to be a girl around her age, then exploit the relationship to convince her to send the explicit messages.
Brandon promised to share the photos and videos with Bledsoe and reportedly admitted to performing the same scheme for other men he met online, boasting of his success in receiving child pornography from other minors. Authorities linked him to five separate Snapchat profiles used to chat sexually with minors.
The FBI initially raided Bledsoe’s Michigan apartment in December of 2024 where they found sexually explicit images of children on his devices and communications to Brandon, including one collection of messages where Bledsoe said he used artificial intelligence to create fake nude images of his relative, leading authorities to track Brandon’s IP address to his Tennessee home and the subsequent raid.
Journalist Andy Ngo exposed Brandon’s social media posts and videos, many vehemently anti-Christian and pro-LGBTQ+. Some of his videos have encouraged his comrades to kill Proud Boys and have called for direct actions against churches who do not affirm trans or queer ideologies.
In one video he states, “We should be protesting at churches who will not pledge to be open and affirming. We need to look at churches who will not make a pledge to welcome and love everyone. I don’t care what faith, doesn’t matter, this is not a thing against Christianity, this is a thing against religion, all religions. And if they can’t be open and affirming to all of their creator’s people, then those churches, those religions don’t need to exist, they all need to evolve out.”
Another video urges viewers to, “Look for the churches in our communities that fly an American flag,” claiming, “those are not churches or religious institutions, they are nationalist organizations.”
Brandon also sells shirts that read “I am Antifa motherf*cker” and recently published a parenting book. Ngo further reports Brandon has been revealed as an associate of a trans nonbinary militant, known as Manuel Esteban “Tortuguita” Paez Teran, who died in a shootout with police near Atlanta in 2023 during an armed Antifa occupation.
Details of Brandon’s political affiliations and anti-Christian bias remain unreported by mainstream media outlets covering the arrest.
Brandon is officially charged with conspiring to sexually exploit a minor, and after an appearance before a Knoxville judge on May 1, will be sent to Michigan as that is the origin of the case.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
