<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Ice cream company Ben &; Jerry’s expressed support for the growing “defund the police” movement in a tweet on Friday:</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“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.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">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 &#8220;defund the police,&#8221; which it claims </span><span class="s1">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.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">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,&#8221; claims Ben &; Jerry&#8217;s. </span></p>
<p>The article goes on to describe<span class="s1"> 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.” </span><span class="s1">The system is “fundamentally flawed &#8211; Band-Aids won’t fix it&#8230;We can’t arrest or incarcerate our way out of the challenges that face our communities.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">As expected, the post garnered considerable support on social media, with one Twitter user posting: </span><span class="s1">“I’m lactose intolerant and I’m about to go buy some [ice cream] later just out of respect.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Author&#8217;s Note:</strong> This is the most irresponsible kind of publicity grab. The &#8216;defund the police&#8217; movement is dangerous and supporting it to boost ice cream sales is shameful. Furthermore, Ben &; Jerry&#8217;s decision to publicly support the &#8216;defund the police&#8217; movement sets a dangerous precedent, and we can expect more companies to follow suit in hopes of attracting customers. </span></p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note:</strong> This is the worst kind of virtue signaling, the kind that supports a breakdown of the systems that keep America safe. I&#8217;m not B&;J customer, but if I were, I wouldn&#8217;t be now.</p>