NHL Team's Fundraiser for Convicted Cop Stirs Up Ruckus

Hockey fans at the Islanders' final home game got an unexpected pitch Tuesday night: donate to the legal defense of a former NYPD sergeant convicted of manslaughter. During a break in play against the Carolina Hurricanes, the UBS Arena scoreboard displayed a photo of Erik Duran, a QR code for direct contributions, and a message from the Sergeants Benevolent Association asking fans to join "the fight for justice." The union says the team also pledged a quarter of its 50/50 raffle proceeds; that pot reached $44,890, reports the CBC. Duran was sentenced last week to three to nine years for throwing a cooler packed with ice at 30-year-old Eric Duprey during a 2023 Bronx drug sting, causing Duprey to crash his scooter and die.

The Islanders declined to comment, and the NHL has not publicly responded. Duprey family attorney Jon Roberts called the move "deeply troubled," saying it risked eroding trust in the justice system and added to the family's pain. Union president Vincent Vallelong was photographed at the arena with Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and New York Post executive Patrick Judge, along with a copy of the Post cover on Duran's conviction, headlined "Jailed for doing his job." (The Post has the photo here.) Vallelong said "the arena blew up into applause" and defended the team's choice as akin to standard pro-sports tributes to the military.