Tiger King Calls On BLM Activists to Demand Prison Reform

Tiger King star Joe Exotic is in the spotlight again after he demanded prison reform, in a recent letter to a fan.

The letter, obtained by the New York Post, calls on Black Lives Matter activists to push for a change to the prison system, which he describes as ‘the American slave trade’.

Exotic is currently serving a 22-year jail sentence for allegedly conspiring to have rival zoo owner, Carol Baskin, killed.

The written rant to pen pal Kathleen Lafferty came with instructions to be posted on Facebook and opened by name dropping George Floyd. “You got the attention of the world over Mr. Floyd. Now you want to take the police out of our cities.”

After the tragic death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement has swept the globe. The Minneapolis resident died in the hands of the police, after officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, consequently suffocating him.

Since his death, there have been protests and riots worldwide, calling for justice for Floyd as well as many other victims of police brutality and racism.

Exotic’s transcript insisted that these activists “demand a law be passed to charge these people with power for perjury and internal corruption,” and that “the problem does not stop on the street”. He further criticised US prison programmes for working inmates at “50 cents an hour.”

Exotic’s letter comes to an abrupt end by insisting that his own case be re-opened due to “false statements and perjury”.

This letter is just one of his many bizarre attempts to get himself released from prison, including a letter to President Trump himself.

On June 8 he wrote a letter in which he claimed he would be dead in two or three months if he wasn’t released from prison while also comparing himself to George Floyd.

Words by Eliza Laben

Originally published at https://www.indiependent.co.uk on June 23, 2020.