Boycott of Tarantino film grows after he calls police murderers

A Tulsa case was apparently among those which prompted his brief speech

Quentin Tarantino at NYC rally protesting police brutality NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 24: Director Quentin Tarantino holds a banner as attends a rally to denounce police brutality in Washington Square Park October 24, 2015 in New York City. The rally is part of a three-day demonstration against officer-involved abuse and killing. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

By Russell Mills

Quentin Tarantino's remarks at an October rally in New York City to protest police brutality were brief, but they've touched off a firestorm of controversy that some hope will lead him to apologize, or retract his statement.

KRMG has found photos of the Hollywood director at that rally, holding a sign referring to a case in Tulsa.

We did some research into the case, involving a man named Justin Smith.

Tulsa police and deputies apparently tried to pull Smith over in August of 19998, leading to a pursuit that lasted about a half hour.

He eventually jumped from his car and ran, but was caught.

According to some accounts, he was beaten after spitting at officers, then taken to a gas station where an ambulance was called.

His mother, Johnsye Andree Penix Smith, maintains that her son was murdered, and was among those at the rally called "#RiseUpOctober" in New York City.

"I am a human being with a conscience, and when I see murder, I can not stand by, and I have to call the murdered the murdered, and I have to call the murderers the murderers," Tarantino told the rally.

Several police organizations, most recently the National Border Patrol Council, have called for a boycott of Tarantino's new film, "The Hateful Eight," due to be released Christmas Day.