San Jose police officers join Tarantino boycott
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - The San Jose Police Officers Association has become the latest law enforcement group to join a planned boycott of Quentin Tarantino's movies.
Across the country, national police organizations are calling for officers to stop working security for any Tarantino projects. The reason stems from controversial comments the director made at a recent rally.
On Tuesday, the SJPOA became the latest to call for a boycott of "The Hateful Eight."
"I think it should mean that we stand together as one across the nation in regards to law enforcement and hopefully law enforcement with their communities, saying enough is enough," said Sgt. Paul Kelly, President of the SJPOA.
The plan is to boycott the movie and condemn the message director Quentin Tarantino sent at a recent rally.
"I am a human being with a conscience. And when I see murder I cannot stand by and I have to call the murderers the murderers," said Tarantino on October 24th.
While he says he was simply condemning police brutality, police organizations say he was equating officers with murderers.
"The hateful, shameful, ignorant comments are unnecessary. We need to work with our community," said Kelly.
In a statement to the LA Times, Tarantino responded to the controversy saying quote "All cops are not murderers. I never said that. I never even implied that."
He goes on to say that instead of examining the problem of police brutality, he's being singled out.
But the San Jose POA says that's not the issue; it's about the impact those words can have.
"We don't need ignorant and hateful comments. It creates violence and could create violence on the street for officers," says Kelly.
Tarantino's comments came four days after a New York Police officer was killed in the line of duty and in a year when San Jose Police lost an officer too. The POA says there could have been a better way to address a sensitive issue.
"Just like if you're a pro athlete, you need to watch everything that you do and the words that you say, because people pay attention. And obviously when you start to promote hate and violence and you're at that level, you're making a huge mistake," said Kelly.
The San Jose POA joins New York, LA, Chicago and Philadelphia among others in boycotting the movie. "The Hateful Eight" opens in limited release on Christmas Day.