One of New York City’s biggest newspapers is taking sides in the uproar over Quentin Tarantino’s comments about cops. The New York Post has run an editorial piece accusing the director of “trolling” police unions in order to sell tickets for his upcoming movie.

The paper has previously called on Tarantino to apologise for the comments made at a rally nearly a fortnight ago, in which he addressed the crowd and called cops who shoot unarmed black and Hispanic people as “murderers”. The Reservoir Dogs director spoke on MSNBC earlier this week to clarify his position, but the new editorial has essentially seen the Post entrench its position.

Quentin TarantinoThe storm of media attention over Tarantino's cop comments is still raging

The article, which was published on Thursday (November 5th), suggested that Tarantino was “looking for controversy and headlines, a guaranteed box-office boost” ahead of the December 25th release of his ‘winter western’ The Hateful Eight.

More: Quentin Tarantino speaks for first time to defend himself against “cop hater” accusations

“Whatever Quentin Tarantino was thinking back at the start of his ‘murderers’ flap, he’s now plainly using dead cops to promote his new movie… It’s been nearly two weeks since Tarantino headlined a Union Square anti-cop rally, just days after the murder of NYPD detective Randolph Holder. Was scoring free publicity on his mind even then?”

The five biggest police unions in the States have joined NY’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assocation, after its president Patrick Lynch first called for the boycott on Tarantino’s movies in the aftermath of the original comments.

The Fraternal Order of Police also said on Thursday that it was planning a “surprise” for Tarantino to hurt him economically. “Something is in the works, but the element of surprise is the most important element,” the organisation told The Hollywood Reporter rather menacingly.

However, the director has received celebrity backing from a certain Michael Moore (quelle surprise), who wrote on Instagram: “Quentin Tarantino, a brave and good American, standing with families who’ve lost loved ones to police violence… Now certain police, the same ones who defend the cops who’ve killed unarmed innocent black citizens, are out to get Tarantino. They’ve called for a boycott of his movies. Really?”

More: Two more police unions join Quentin Tarantino movie boycott