The New Jersey State Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (PBA) is the latest police union to join a boycott of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino called for by their New York "brothers in blue." Patrick Lynch, president of the New York police officers' union,
described Tarantino as a "cop hater" and called for New Yorkers to send the director "a message." Tarantino spoke at an anti-police brutality rally in the city last Saturday, saying that he was on the side of those victimized by police.
PBA President Pat Collegian said, "Mr. Tarantino should be mindful of the potential dangers that can result from the dangerous rhetoric once it is ingrained in the mind of a person who is willing to harm an officer."
The New Jersey organization joins unions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles in both the boycott and the hyperbole against the director. Philadelphia's union head John McNesby also said Tarantino was a cop-hater and the president of Los Angeles' union, Craig Lally, wrote that Tarantino's actions were "unconscionable."
In the Los Angeles Times' coverage of the LAPD union's entrance into the boycott, they included a link to an article about the "rising number of ambushes" of cops nationwide.
Problem is, they lyin'.
Sunday, Dec 6, 2015 · 8:09:38 PM +00:00
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Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Director Quentin Tarantino, speaking at a press conference on December 5 about his upcoming film “The Hateful Eight,” also responded to “hints” of retaliation by police unions who have announced a boycott of him:
“At the same time, you should be able to talk about abuses of power. You should be able to talk about police brutality and what, in some cases as far as I’m concerned, is outright murder and outright loss of justice, without the police organization targeting you in the way that they have done me.”
You can read more of his comments on his upcoming film and his response to the police unions here.
Well, okay. Maybe that, too, was hyperbole. They're being less than honest. There. That's better.
After saying the number of ambushes against police officers was creeping back up based on the numbers from 2008 to 2013, in the very next sentence the article states that the total is still "far lower" than during the 1990s.
In the Washington Post, Radley Balko reported that assaults on cops had dropped sharply in 2014—the year after the Times' tally, and The Guardian wrote back in September that 2015 was shaping up to be one of the safest years for law enforcement.
The histrionics of police across the country are a direct result of renewed efforts to hold them accountable for their actions in the deaths of several unarmed civilians. And they can't stand it.
They need to get a grip.
Seriously.