What flavor does Abolish the Justice System most taste like? In cities across America, the closest association is ashes — with a running ripple of hypocrisy. After the police shooting in Brooklyn Center, progressive ice-cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s declared that policing and the justice system could not be reformed, and instead needed to be dismantled altogether:
The murder of #DaunteWright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities.
This system can’t be reformed.
It must be dismantled and a real system of public safety rebuilt from the ground up.#DefundThePolice
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) April 12, 2021
While the tweet went out Monday night, it didn’t really get much media attention until the next evening. It’s not the first time that Ben & Jerry’s has endorsed abolishing the police, but perhaps the first time they’ve extended it to the entire criminal justice system:
Ben and Jerry’s is calling to dismantle and rebuild the public safety and criminal justice systems in the wake of the police shooting of Daunte Wright. …
Ben and Jerry’s called to defund the police on Juneteenth last year, following nationwide calls for justice after the police killing of George Floyd. The Vermont-based ice cream company posted an Instagram photo illustration of money from the US police budget being scooped into bowls labeled “affordable housing,” “education,” and “mental health counseling.”
The ice cream brand has published articles for years calling to end white supremacy, to get out the vote in local elections, and for better aid undocumented immigrants.
Ben & Jerry’s talks the woke talk. Do they walk the woke walk? It didn’t take long to answer that question:
Guess they better stop calling the cops when their stores get robbed 🤷🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/hJu8C8mMaA
— Kris Ann (@utyaya) April 14, 2021
In case one objects to those examples as BGF — Before George Floyd — here’s another from last June in Burlington, Vermont:
Police say Ibrahim Garelnabi, 26, forced his way into the store through the locked front door. They say he bagged up several items including the cash register drawers and a safe before leaving the store on foot. When police got there, they saw Garelnabi and chased him down.
That took place on June 24th, a week after Juneteenth and the corporate call to abolish the police department. If Ben & Jerry’s thinks that these are irredeemable systems of white supremacy, why are they calling the cops when their stores get robbed?
Talk is cheap, that’s why, even if their ice cream isn’t. Their employees likely already know what calling for dismantling police departments does. In cities like Minneapolis, it results in a massive jump in violent crime, including murders, as police retreat from effective crime-control strategies. It’s an anarchist nutty delight that only hard-left stalwarts could possibly cheer — and only from the safe seats.
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