Give Joe Exotic credit. Even when he's locked up in jail, he finds a way to get camera time and media attention.
In yet another jailhouse interview with the Oklahoma media, the Tiger King who now conveniently gets to wear orange everyday explained to News 9 that life trapped inside a cage in rural Oklahoma really sucks.
Via News 9:
Nearly two weeks after former gubernatorial candidate was denied bail, Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage is speaking out.
Maldonado-Passage is currently being housed in the Grady County Jail, accused in a murder-for-hire plot.
“The quality of enrichment doesn’t match that of a chimp in a zoo under the United States Welfare Act,” Maldonado-Passage said.
That's great. I like how Joe Exotic – a man who bred exotic animals and kept them locked in cages – is able to see and touch the irony of his situation, but it's still somehow lost on him. It takes great skill to be that oblivious!
Maldonado-Passage said the conditions in jails across the state are so deplorable he's calling on hopeful leaders of the state to do something about it.
“I’d like to challenge Mr. Kevin Stitt and Drew Edmondson to come to this cell and sit down with me, to talk about the prison reform we talked about in every debate,” Maldonado-Passage said.
We don't ask a lot here at The Lost Ogle, but for love of Gary England, can someone please make this happen? Can you imagine Kevin Stitt and Drew Edmondson discussing prison conditions with Joe Exotic while playing with tiger cubs in the Grady County jail? It would be the greatest spectacle in Oklahoma politics since David Boren held a press conference to swear on a bible that he wasn't a bisexual or homosexual!
As far as he's concerned, despite facing a charge for murder-for-hire, Maldonado-Passage said he shouldn’t be behind bars.
“I am supposed to be in this country, born, raised, innocent until proven guilty, and I have been stripped of my clothes, my rights, my identity, my dignity,” Maldonado-Passage said.
Maldonado Passage was recently denied bond because a federal judge believed he would harm himself.
“They denied me bond because they think I’m a danger to myself and I would kill myself before trial,” Maldonado-Passage said.
He said upon his arrival at the Grady County Jail he was placed on suicide watch--despite never being evaluated by a medical professional.
“Let me explain to you what suicide watch is. It's called, 'naked and afraid.' They strip you butt-naked and put you in a 6x8 concrete room with no windows, no blankets, no nothing, and I spent five days in there,” Maldonado-Passage said.
Somewhere, someplace there's an animal rights activist (or liger) saying (or purring) payback is a bitch. Maybe next week the Grady County Jail will charge people stopping by the turnpike McDonald's $10 to take a photo with the Oklahoma Tiger King.
