By Carey Wedler at theantimedia.org
Police officers and unions across the country hurled rage-filled insults at film director Quentin Tarantino following his comments at a recent anti-police brutality rally in New York. Now, after publicly shaming and smearing the celebrity, the Fraternal Order of Police is claiming it has a “surprise” for him, offering few details on what to expect.
“Something is in the works, but the element of surprise is the most important element,” said Jim Pasco, executive director of the union, which is the largest in the nation with 330,000 members. “Something could happen anytime between now and [the premiere]. And a lot of it is going to be driven by Tarantino, who is nothing if not predictable.” 
Quentin Tarantino incited anger after speaking at the rally at the end of October. Expressing the sentiments of many Americans, he boldly discussed the pervasive killings of citizens by police:
“…when I see murders [by police], I do not stand by,” he said. “I have to call a murder a murder and I have to call the murderers the murderers.”
Before yielding his time at the Riseup October rally to families of victims, he added, “I’m a human being with a conscience. If you believe there’s murder going on then you need to rise up and stand up against it. I’m here to say I’m on the side of the murdered.“
The backlash from police was swift and scathing.
NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton expressed his outrage: “Shame on him, particularly at this time we are grieving for a New York City police officer,” he said, referencing a funeral held around the same time for an officer killed in the line of duty. “There are no words to describe the contempt I have for him and his comments at this particular time,” he added.
The Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Benevolent Association, both prominent police unions, echoed similar sentiments and called for a boycott of Tarantino and his upcoming film, The Hateful Eight.
“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.’ It’s time for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino’s films,” a statement from the Police Benevolent Association said. It also criticized the violent nature of Tarantino’s films, saying, “It’s no surprise that someone who makes a living glorifying crime and violence is a cop-hater, too.”
Quentin Tarantino defended his actions and fought back against what he viewed as manipulations of his words:
“I was under the impression I was an American and that I had First Amendment rights, and there was no problem with me going to an anti-police-brutality protest and speaking my mind,” Tarantino said. “Just because I was at an anti-police-brutality protest doesn’t mean I’m anti-police.”
In his first interview after the incident and subsequent backlash, he told the Los Angeles Times that “All cops are not murderers. I never said that. I never even implied that.”
Tarantino also attributed the criticism to denial on the part of the unions and police, arguing they “would rather start arguments with celebrities than examine the concerns put before them by a citizenry that has lost trust in them.”
True to form, Pasco announced the “surprise” on Thursday, remaining cryptic in the Fraternal Order of Police’s plans: “The right time and place will come up and we’ll try to hurt him in the only way that seems to matter to him, and that’s economically.”
“We’ll be opportunistic,” Pasco added.
Regardless of the unions’ palpable power and influence, Tarantino is still apparently refusing to cower to their tactics. As he told the Los Angeles Times,
“…their message is very clear. It’s to shut me down. It’s to discredit me. It is to intimidate me. It is to shut my mouth, and even more important than that, it is to send a message out to any other prominent person that might feel the need to join that side of the argument.”
This article (Largest U.S. Police Union Issues Thinly Veiled Threat Against Quentin Tarantino) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Carey Wedler andtheAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email[email protected].
hopefully Quentin makes a movie focused on the police as the thug class, the capo of the concentration camps, demonizing them and painting them as they really are in real life. and all this attention from the police backfire and the sales and interest go beyond even Quentin’s imagination. Quentin can really use this to open some sheeples minds up to reality
I believe Quentin would want you to change your wording just a little. More specific…. Police “who are brutal” as the thug class.
Hey cops: the truth hurts, doesn’t it? I smell bacon…
Wayyyy to go Tarentino!!! How true it is that no matter how or what you say in defense of true victims, the ones in high up places protecting or working for the government or police always twist the words and actions of a person speaking the truth to make them sound or look like criminals. Well no matter what these ruthless people say or do, we the people have lost faith and trust in our police and government and that will ultimately end in serious blood shed and the ones who will remain standing will be those that are on the side of fairness and equality. Mr Tarantino, you keep making the noise you’re making and keep telling the truth no matter what.
A boycott of the movies by police will not have any financial effect. I worked in a theatre when I was a teenager I’ve seen many cops come to the door hold up their badge and ask to get them and their family in without paying, I mostly told them to buy a ticket unless the boss was standing around then I had to let t hem in.