Ben & Jerry’s co-founder calls for ICE to be ‘defunded and disbanded’

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen called for the “defunding and disbanding” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the second fatal shooting this month of an American in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.

Cohen said he initially planned to make an ice cream treat in memory of Renee Nicole Good, 37, who was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, but couldn’t afford the treat after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, 37, who was also recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city on Saturday.

Pretti, a critical care nurse, appears to be trying to help a woman who agents had knocked out, pushed to the ground and beaten when they sprayed her with an irritant, according to video and eyewitness accounts. An agent was then seen removing Pretti’s legally owned firearm from his waistband, and other agents fired several shots, killing him.

“I was ready to make a special ice cream today to remember and celebrate the life of Renee Good, but now that Alex’s murder has made it clear that Renee’s murder and the government’s lies were standard operating procedure, not a mistake,” Cohen said in a video sent to X.

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“We all live in Minneapolis now because Minneapolis is just the beginning of what they have in mind. They’re coming for anyone, anywhere, who won’t bow down,” he continued. “The arrogant, arrogant, masked military force loyal only to Trump and immune from investigation.”

Cohen argued that people in the United States must “obey” the Trump administration or risk being killed by federal agents for exercising their First Amendment rights.

“Either surrender or be killed. Videotape these and be killed. Protest and be killed, or at least be listed as domestic terrorists and investigated,” he said.

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Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen called for ICE to be “defunded and dismantled.” (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“This is not freedom,” he added. “This is not free speech or the right to protest. This is not America. This is pure tyranny. Unless we make this the home of the brave, unless we are brave enough to defend justice, defend our neighbors, defend compassion, this is the beginning of the end of the land of the free.”

Cohen later called for shutting down ICE, which was established in 2003 following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and reactivating the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which handled immigration issues before the attacks.

“ICE should be defunded and dismantled,” he said. “Before 2001, ICE did not exist. Immigration issues were handled by the INS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is part of the Department of Justice. And that was fair.”

“Let’s get back to this,” Cohen suggested.

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen has suggested that people in the US must “obey” the Trump administration or risk being killed by federal agents. (Washington Post via Demetrius Freeman/Getty Images)

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The ice cream creator also appeared to take issue with Republicans who publicly cited Christian values ​​while defending efforts to target immigrants in the United States.

“You know, I don’t understand. They say this is a Christian nation. What did he mean, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me?’ ‘Love your neighbour.’ Quoting the Bible, Cohen said, “Even the least of these things you have done to me.”