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The New York Islanders are facing questions about a promotion urging hockey fans to donate to a former New York City police sergeant who was recently convicted of manslaughter for hurling a cooler of ice at a man fleeing arrest.
The fundraiser — shown on the scoreboard during Tuesday’s home game against the Carolina Hurricanes — featured a photo of Erik Duran, who was sentenced last week to three to nine years in prison for causing the death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey.
It included a QR code for direct donations to Duran’s legal defence, along with a message from his union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, requesting fans join “the fight for justice.” The team also said it would direct a quarter of proceeds from a 50/50 raffle toward the cause, the union said.
The union’s president, Vincent Vallelong, said the fundraiser came together after someone at the New York Post informed him that the Islanders “wanted to do something” for Duran.
A spokesperson for the Islanders declined to comment. An emailed inquiry to the Post was not returned.
An attorney for Duprey’s family, Jon Roberts, said they were “deeply troubled by the decision of the New York Islanders to align themselves, even symbolically, with efforts that appear to support Sgt. Duran’s legal defence.”
“This was not a neutral act,” Roberts’s statement continued. “It sends a message — intended or not — that risks undermining public confidence in a fair legal process and deepens the pain of a family still grieving.”
The NHL did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Duprey’s death came as Duran and other narcotics officers were carrying out an undercover drug bust in the Bronx in 2023.
Surveillance footage showed Duran lifting a bystander’s cooler full of drinks and ice and throwing it at Duprey as he attempted to flee on a motorized scooter. The impact of the cooler caused Duprey to crash into a tree, and he died almost instantly.
‘Out of left field’
The former sergeant’s conviction in February drew fierce protests from police officers and their supporters, who argued it would discourage officers from doing their jobs and hurt public safety. It is the first time in at least two decades that an NYPD officer will spend time in prison for an on-duty death. His attorney has said he will appeal the sentence.
Vallelong, the union president, said the chance to raise money for Duran at a professional hockey game “came out of left field.”
Erik Duran is seated during his sentencing hearing at the Bronx County Hall of Justice on April 9. The former New York City police sergeant was sentenced to over three years in prison. (Michael R. Sisak/The Associated Press)
Photographs published by The New York Post show Vallelong posing with the Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and newspaper executive Pat Judge inside the team’s stadium, which is on Long Island.
Vallelong said “the arena blew up into applause” when Duran’s photograph appeared on the video screen. He dismissed criticism of the hockey team’s decision to solicit donations.
“They’re a private organization. They can do whatever they want,” he said of the Islanders, likening the promotion to celebrations of the military common in professional sports.
Vallelong declined to say how much money was raised for the legal defence fund. The 50/50 raffle took in $44,890, according to the Islander’s website.
It was the final home game of the season for the Islanders, whose late season coaching change from Patrick Roy to Peter DeBoer did not prevent the club from failing to reach the playoffs for the second straight season.