Ben & Jerry’s Supports ‘Defund the Police’
Ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s expressed support for the growing “defund the police” movement in a tweet on Friday:
“This #Juneteenth, it’s more important than ever that we dismantle the racist and ineffective model of American policing. Learn more about how defunding the police works and why we so desperately need it.”
Ben & Jerry’s first expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016 during the protests over Colin Kaepernick’s actions. This time around, the company posted a long article on its website describing its definition of “defund the police,” which it claims presents the US with a golden opportunity to transform policing so that “Black Americans and people of color can finally experience and celebrate true freedom.”
The murder of George Floyd was not the result of a “bad apple,” but a “predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning,” claims Ben & Jerry’s.
The article goes on to describe a system where tax dollars are not used for “police budgets, loading up on manpower, surveillance, armor, and weapons of war,” but instead used to invest in “community-driven solutions that foster real health, peacekeeping, and safety.” The system is “fundamentally flawed – Band-Aids won’t fix it…We can’t arrest or incarcerate our way out of the challenges that face our communities.”
As expected, the post garnered considerable support on social media, with one Twitter user posting: “I’m lactose intolerant and I’m about to go buy some [ice cream] later just out of respect.”
Author’s Note: This is the most irresponsible kind of publicity grab. The ‘defund the police’ movement is dangerous and supporting it to boost ice cream sales is shameful. Furthermore, Ben & Jerry’s decision to publicly support the ‘defund the police’ movement sets a dangerous precedent, and we can expect more companies to follow suit in hopes of attracting customers.
Editor’s Note: This is the worst kind of virtue signaling, the kind that supports a breakdown of the systems that keep America safe. I’m not B&J customer, but if I were, I wouldn’t be now.
Stop buying their ice cream, effective immediately!!!!
If they are supporting it to boost ice cream sales they are making a big mistake!!
I like Ben and Jerry’s product, but I’ll be damned if I will support a company that supports Antifa anarchists!
FU, another company to not purchase from. Your product is not as good as many of your AMERICAN competitors , and is far too much money. You’re as bad as starsucks. DEFUND b&j . I’d love to see anti AMERICAN POS companies like that and far too many others go broke and close . Too bad for the people that have to work there, most of them are probably as much anti AMERICAN as the companies they work for.
Everyone should ” boycott ” all the company’s and individuals and supporters of Black Lives Matter. They are all unAmerican and contributing and sponsoring violence and anarchy. Also ANTIFA should be designated a terrorist group. These people and groups are trying to destroy our american values and history.
Wait till the Thugs come in a kill all your people and the people eating ice cream. I’ll be they will change their mind in a hurry. This is a troubled world right now and we need the police more than we ever have. LET’S KEEP OUR POLICE WORKING!!!!
Time to defund Ben and Jerry’s
I will not be buying Ben & Jerry’s icecream anymore
Another reason not to buy this ice-cream. Never have and never will. They need to move to any country in the world just get out of the great USA.