Joe Exotic's Pensacola fans want him released from prison. His late husband's parents don't

“Make America Exotic Again.”

Shannon Hoffman painted that slogan on the back of the shirt she wore to the “Free Joe Exotic” protest outside the federal courthouse in downtown Pensacola, Tuesday morning.

The young woman was among a dozen or so people who gathered in the park on Palafox Street to show their support for Joe Maldonado, a.k.a. Joe Exotic or the Tiger King, who had a court hearing in a trademark infringement lawsuit he filed over his music.

Hoffman and others picked up tote bags and other promotional items calling to “Free Joe Exotic” provided at the rally. Bubbles, bumper stickers, shirts, and pins carrying the same message were laid out on a table covered with a shiny, American flag styled tablecloth.

Joe Exotic couldn’t be seen going into the courthouse but plenty of people, including Hoffman, have talked with him during video visits and phone calls at the Santa Rosa County Jail or “Milton Hilton” as some called it. The 61-year-old has been there for the past few weeks awaiting the hearing.

“He's just a down to earth person,” Hoffman said. “He's just wanting to get out and be able to live his life and get the treatment that he needs for the cancer that he has. I don't think he deserves to be locked up anymore. He has done his time.”

To folks supporting him at the protest, Joe Exotic is something of a celebrity folk hero. They believe he is innocent of the criminal convictions that sent him to prison including killing five tigers and selling others across state lines, as well as a murder-for-hire plot to kill fellow big cat handler, Carole Baskin.

The case and Joe Exotic were made famous by the Netflix documentary series, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness," which captivated audiences from coast to coast during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Joe Exotic and his team of promoters and supporters asked people to support his bid for freedom Tuesday morning before his hearing.

JT Barnett helped organize the protest and document it on video. He said he and Joe Exotic have worked together for years, and that he’s creating another docuseries on Exotic’s efforts to appeal his conviction and get out of prison.

“I just want to call out President Biden,” said Barnett, directing his comments to him. “You traded Brittney Griner for the biggest arms trafficker in the world. What about Joe, who hasn't done anything? He's sitting here seven years later, and you promised justice reform. We would like to see Joe free.”

Romanie Roach loved the docuseries on Joe Exotic and wanted to see him and the protest in person when she learned it was happening in Pensacola.

“Our country is a circus,” said Roach, who came with her dog, Cleo. “So if it's going to be a circus, I wouldn't be surprised if Trump gets elected again, and then he does pardon Joe Exotic, which is like, just like we're living in Hunger Games, basically, because that whole story is just bizarre.”

Shelly Bertran and her adult son also came to support Joe Exotic. They believe he was wrongfully convicted and would like to see him out and able to enjoy Pensacola like a regular visitor.

“We feel like he got a raw deal, and he should be released,” said Bertran. “And what really concerns me, there are people that have committed harsh crimes, and they have already been released, and this man is still incarcerated, and it's just not right. We disagree with the justice system.”

Not everyone at the protest believes the justice system got it wrong with Joe Exotic. Danny Maldonado and his wife, Sherry, believe he is right where he belongs behind bars, and they came with their own signs saying as much to counter-protest his supporters.

Related: Joe Exotic says he's fighting cancer, meeting fans and enjoying the food in Santa Rosa Jail

Danny Maldonado is the father of Travis Maldonado. Travis was 19 when he married Joe Exotic within a month of meeting the big cat keeper at his Oklahoma zoo.

Travis Maldonado was featured in the "Tiger King" docuseries and is perhaps one of the most sympathetic characters in the story after he accidentally shot and killed himself with a handgun. Travis Maldonado was 24 years old when he died, and his dad and stepmom believe he was set up to shoot himself because he knew too much about activities that could land Joe Exotic in legal trouble.

They believe Joe Exotic manipulated, isolated and abused the once happy-go-lucky young man and said they were on their way to bring him home from Oklahoma when he died. They found out about his death when Joe Exotic posted it on social media.

“We just want people to know he is not who they think he is,” Sherry Maldonado said. “I have a lot of faith in God, and I really don't like to wish bad things on people, because I believe it'll come back to you, but this man deserves anything bad that happens to him. Anything. He has destroyed not only our family's lives, he destroyed a lot of other lives of innocent people.”

Travis’ father lights up when he talks about his son. He tears up easily when he recalls what Travis’ relationship with Joe Exotic cost him and their entire family. Danny Maldonado said Travis’ older sisters are suffering over his loss just like he and Sherry are and the grief and pain is all but killing them.

“Travis used to like to show people that trick (with the gun pointing at his head), like, ‘I can do this and it's not going to kill me.’ That's what he was doing. They called it his parlor trick. We think they told him, ‘Hey, go show him your parlor trick,’ and set him up to do that. He gave my son drugs, and he gave him guns. Those two don't mix and that's why he's dead today. That was something he didn't do before he went there.”

Maldonado said the docuseries also put their family in the limelight and on the radar of some people who have harassed and threatened them. They moved to Pensacola recently for Sherry’s health, not realizing Joe Exotic lived here before and would show up again for a court hearing.

When he did, though, they wanted to be there and make their feelings known, just like Joe Exotic’s supporters.

Romanie Roach said it’s an experience she won’t soon forget. She also moved here recently from Alaska and said after living in Pensacola for a while, none of this surprises her.

“When you visit Paris, you see the Eiffel Tower,” Roach said. “In Pensacola, Florida, you go to a free Joe Exotic rally.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Joe Exotic Tiger King Pensacola court hearing draws fans protesters