Tiger King's Joe Exotic asks BLM to demand prison reform in letter calling system 'the American slave trade'
‘You must go inside, where the cover ups and the dirty deals are done,’ Exotic wrote in bizarre letter
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tiger King star Joe Exotic has called on Black Lives Matter activists to demand prison reform after referring to the system as the “American slave trade”.
The star of Netflix’s hit documentary series, who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for plotting to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, shared his thoughts on defunding the police in a letter to a fan.
“You got the attention of the world over the murder of Mr. Floyd. Now you want to take the police out of your cities,” he wrote, via the New York Post.
Accusing authorities of lying “on police reports and in court” in order to keep the “American slave trade” going within the for-profit prison system, he continued: “You the people need to demand a law be passed to charge these people with power for perjury and internal corruption, because you might have changed a small portion of what’s wrong with America but the problem does not stop on the street.
“You must go inside, behind the closed doors, where the cover up and the dirty deals are done between the people in power in order to legally kidnap you or your loved ones of all colors and sex.”
Claiming that in the for-profit prison system authority figures “abuse you and make you work for 80 cents an hour”, the former zoo keeper implored his followers to “be the voice of millions” and demand justice for prisoners.
On 8 June, another letter from Exotic was released in which he compared himself to George Floyd and alleged that he would be dead in two or three months after being denied the “blood infusions” he needs to treat his antibody deficiency and anaemia.
Tiger King, Netflix's documentary series about rival zookeepers Exotic and Baskin, aired earlier this year.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments