NY Police Union Calls for Boycott of Tarantino Films

New York's largest police union has demanded a boycott of Quentin Tarantino films after the Oscar-winning director protested against the deaths of unarmed suspects at police hands.

"It's no surprise that someone who makes a living glorifying crime and violence is a cop-hater, too," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

"It's time for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino's films," he said.

Tarantino's latest movie "The Hateful Eight" -- about bounty hunters in Wyoming after the American Civil War -- will premiere in the United States on Christmas Day.

It follows a string of box office hits, including "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" that have earned the director two Oscars and scores of other awards around the world.

"The police officers that Quentin Tarantino calls 'murderers' aren't living in one of his depraved big screen fantasies -- they're risking and sometimes sacrificing their lives to protect communities from real crime and mayhem," said Lynch.

"New Yorkers need to send a message to this purveyor of degeneracy that he has no business coming to our city to peddle his slanderous 'Cop Fiction.'" 

The 52-year-old director joined hundreds of people marching in New York on Saturday, campaigning against perceived police brutality and the deaths of unarmed suspects in custody.

For more than a year, high-profile deaths of black men have galvanized nationwide demonstrations by protesters complaining that police unfairly profile black and Latino men. They also criticize what they see as the militarization of law enforcement in the U.S.

"This is not being dealt with in any way at all. That's why we are out here," Tarantino told AFP and another reporter Saturday.

"If it was being dealt with, then these murdering cops would be in jail or at least be facing charges," he added.

A database compiled by the Guardian newspaper says more than 930 people have been killed by police in the United States so far this year, of whom 436 were white, 226 black and 143 Latino.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund estimates that one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States on average every 60 hours.