New York Police Union: Damage from Tarantino’s ‘Hateful Comments’ Has ‘Already Been Done’

New York City’s police union responded swiftly Tuesday to what it called Quentin Tarantino’s “latest outburst,” in which the director doubled down on comments he made at an anti-police rally in the city last month.

“The damage from Quentin Tarantino’s hateful comments about police officers has already been done,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“‘Freedom of expression’ goes both ways,” Lynch added. “If he doesn’t want to face a backlash, he should choose his words more carefully in the future. Meanwhile, police officers will continue to express their own outrage at the box office.”

On Tuesday, Tarantino stood by comments he made last month calling police officers “murders,” saying that what he said “was right” and that he was “misrepresented.”

“What can I do? I’m not taking back what I said,” the embattled director told the Los Angeles Times. “What I said was the truth. I’m used to people misrepresenting me; I’m used to being misunderstood. What I’d like to think their attack against me is so vicious that they’re revealing themselves. They’re hiding in plain sight.”

Police unions nationwide have since joined New York law enforcement in a boycott of Tarantino’s upcoming film The Hateful Eight, including Chicago PD, Philadelphia PD, and the LAPD. The National Association of Police Organizations, representing 1,000 police units and associations nationwide, has also joined the boycott.

In its own statement Tuesday, The Hateful Eight distributor The Weinstein Company said it doesn’t “speak for” the director and has “a longstanding relationship and friendship with Quentin and has a tremendous amount of respect for him as a filmmaker.”