Facebook 'Tiger King' trolls say they plan to storm Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue
Social media is a great place to waste hours of your life, especially when your state is under a stay-at-home order. That’s what appears to be happening in a Facebook event titled, “Storm Big Cat Rescue Wearing Joe Exotic Shirts!”
The event—set for Friday, July 10—is organized by two Indiana men, Chad Blankman and Randy Baker. Blankman, 31, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he and Baker are good friends who bonded over being business owners.
“We watched ‘Tiger King ‘on the first day it came out. Then social media took it by storm, I had already said previously we should protest her. Due to how she treats staff, collects money, doesn’t do anything for wildlife or conserving wildlife,” Blankman said in a message.
The best reactions to Netflix’s ‘Tiger King,’ which you should be watching right now
Indiana is on a stay-at-home order until midnight on April 7. Bored Netflix users—all practicing caution in this age of coronavirus—have become enamored with the streaming site’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” docuseries ,which basically tells the tale of renegade zookeeper Joe Exotic, who’s obsessed with Tampa's Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin.
At one point, filmmakers insinuate that Baskin put her husband in a meat grinder (Baskin has vehemently denied the accusation).
Online, Blankman is telling friends that he’s “reading Florida’s state government website on protesting.”
“I’m going to do this professionally. I need to see if I can be held responsible for other people’s actions, if protesting hurts profits if I can be sued, trying to find locals through pages to help me file for a permit in the county, trying to find a attorney to join this so we have legal help on sight. Maybe Don’s attorney... so on and so on. Every state is different so never assume,” he wrote. “There’s ways to do things correctly and accomplish something then there’s ways to think you can do something go down there waste time and money only to get shut down. I’m doing this correct way!”
Blankman and Baker appear to have no past history of advocating for the rights of captive exotic animals, but Blankman told CL that he's "always been involved with animals and wildlife. I’m not out there on the front lines speaking out about it."
"I have a family, a good job average life. I got out of business because I spent so much time away from family. I can’t be in the front lines speaking out about it, but when I do have time I can do what I have done." he said, adding that he's using his marketing skills to pique curiosity
"I can create a event or something and get people together," Blankman said. "Unlike business I don’t want a profit from this. I want to raise awareness for wildlife."
When told that his protest seemed to be borne from boredom brought on during Indiana's stay-at-home order, Blankman didn't disagree.
He said he doesn't want to cause chaos, and there's "a way to do things the right way and accomplish things, there’s ways to do things like a idiot..."
That's why he's looking for legal help and seeking advice about permits.
"We are trying to not to be disturbing to the public. We understand there will be children passing by or even protesting and I don’t want anything to happen that could cause them future issues," he said. "We just want to get a message across while taking a vacation!"
https://www.cltampa.com/arts-enterta...big-cat-rescue