A pro-police group is furious with Vermont’s most beloved ice cream.
Blue Lives Matter has called for a nation-wide boycott of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream after the Burlington-based company announced its support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The group — made of current and former law enforcement officials and their supporters and formed as a reaction to Black Lives Matter — accused the liberal creamery of attacking police in its support of the civil rights movement.
“Ben & Jerry’s went beyond making a statement in support of civil rights when they actively accused law enforcement of widespread racism,” Blue Lives Matter wrote in a statement. “By spreading these false and misleading statements, Ben & Jerry’s lends an appearance of legitimacy to the baseless claims that police officers are killing men based on the color of their skin.”
Last week, Ben & Jerry’s asked its fans to support Black Lives Matter and released a seven-point breakdown outlining how systemic racism exists in American society. The list detailed ways black people face discrimination in the workplace, in education and even in the doctor’s office.
“Systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time,” the creative flavor company wrote. “We’ve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats.”
The ice cream company urged all Americans to “listen and hear the struggles of their neighbor,” and be more open to understanding racial biases.
“All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until Black lives matter,” the creamery wrote.
But Blue Lives Matter — which has accused Black Lives Matter, a movement that has called for an end to police brutality, of being anti-police — claimed that Ben & Jerry’s sweet endorsement of the organization is not a matter of civil rights.
They insisted the company’s statement, which pointed out how black people are incarcerated at far higher rates than white people and backed Black Lives Matter in its quest to end police brutality, is anti-police.
“By not only attacking law enforcement, but openly supporting Black Lives Matter, Ben & Jerry’s is sure to anger most Americans who do not agree with the political causes that they are supporting,” Blue Lives Matter wrote.
This is not the first time Ben & Jerry’s has taken up a political cause. The company — founded by activists Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield — has previously supported The World Wildlife Fund and Occupy Wall Street.
The founders were avid supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sander’s presidential campaign. Earlier this year the creamery rolled out a flavor for their political pick, a chocolatey mint concoction dubbed “Bernie’s Yearning.”
