Law enforcement supporters urge boycott of Ben & Jerry’s

A national law enforcement group has joined the Blue Lives Matter movement in calling for a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream because of the company’s public endorsement of Black Lives Matter.

On its website, Ben & Jerry’s posted a statement last week titled “Why Black lives matter,” which says, in part, “They matter because the injustices they face steal from all of us — white people and people of color alike. They steal our very humanity.

“Systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time.”

The message left a sour taste in the mouths of the Blue Lives Matter group, which saw it as corporate support of a disruptive and sometimes violent political movement that espouses “baseless, hateful, anti-police rhetoric.”

Noting that Ben & Jerry’s has been on “many police officers’ boycott list for some time,” the organization says: “It’s no surprise that many citizens who support law enforcement have renewed their pledge to boycott this irresponsible company.” It asks supporters to spread the word about the boycott.

The Law Enforcement Action Network is seeking to do just that with its email blast Tuesday via the ConservativeHQ organization urging people to add their signatures to the boycott.

“The time has come to turn the tables on these leftists by using one of their favorite tactics against them,” the email petition says. “It’s time to boycott Ben & Jerry’s.”

Ben & Jerry’s, which makes no secret of its activism, has pinned this tweet to the top of its Twitter feed, which is filled with posts supporting one political cause or another:

In response to a commenter on its Facebook page who accuses the company of siding against the Blue Lives Matter movement, the page administrator says:

"We want to be clear: we believe that saying Black lives matter is not to say that the lives of those who serve in the law enforcement community don’t. We respect and value the commitment to our communities that those in law enforcement make, and we respect the value of every one of their lives.

“We firmly believe that saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ is not at all the opposite of saying ‘Blue Lives Matter.’ These are not opposing statements.”

Reaction on social media has been mixed:

And at times humorous:

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Law enforcement supporters urge boycott of Ben & Jerry’s."