Ben & Jerry’s Blames Daunte Wright Killing on White Supremacy, Calls for Defunding Police: ‘This System Can’t be Reformed’

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Ben & Jerry’s took to Twitter to call for defunding the police and to declare the company’s belief that Daunte Wright’s killing was a result of “white supremacy.”

The murder of #DaunteWright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities,” the company wrote in its Twitter missive. “This system can’t be reformed. It must be dismantled and a real system of public safety rebuilt from the ground up. #DefundThePolice.”

The Vermont-based ice cream chain founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield has been vigorously political over the last several years, most recently making headlines in January for calling on Congress to impeach former President Donald Trump. The company also dedicated two ice cream flavors — titled “Bernie’s Yearning” and “Bernie’s Back” — to Cohen and Greenfield’s home state senator, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The duo said they were fans of the two-time presidential candidate’s “democratic socialism.”

Wright, 20, was killed in Brooklyn Center, MN on Sunday during a traffic stop by Officer Kim Potter, who said she intended to draw a Taser rather than her firearm. Potter, a 26-year police veteran, resigned from her position on Tuesday, and was arrested Wednesday on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.

Attorneys for Wright’s family said they believed Potter had “executed” Wright. “This was no accident,” they said in a Wednesday statement. “This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force. Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence. A 26-year veteran of the force knows the difference between a taser and a firearm. Kim Potter executed Daunte for what amounts to no more than a minor traffic infraction and a misdemeanor warrant.”