Law Enforcement Groups Call For 'Hateful Eight' Boycott; Director Says They're Avoiding Issue

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Law enforcement groups are calling for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino's new film, "The Hateful Eight," while the director calls it a distraction from the issue of police brutality.

Former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness is responding to Tarantino's controversial comments about officers who shot civilians, calling them murderers.

"I have to call the murdered the murdered, I have to call the murderers, the murderers," the director said on Oct. 24, referring to the recent deaths of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of police. "I am a human being with a conscience and when I see murder I cannot stand by."

The statement came several days after a New York Police Department officer was killed in the line of duty. Now multiple police unions across the country, including the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association are asking their members and the public to boycott Tarantino's next movie.

Tarantino told the Los Angeles Times, "All cops are not murderers." He says instead of addressing the issue of police brutality, the groups are choosing to discredit him.

McGinness says the movie itself isn't the issue, but what he calls Tarantino's inflammatory comments. He believes it's contributing to an anti-law enforcement culture that jeopardizes everyone's safety.

"As law enforcement labor groups have done and called for a boycott I believe it could have a positive impact and use free enterprise as an opportunity to kind of vote with their feet," he said.