The Audacity of Ice Cream
Ben Cohen wants to abolish ICE. Not the frozen kind he’s made millions selling, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency tasked with enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. His reasoning? Two fatal shootings in Minneapolis involving federal agents this month have convinced him we’re living under a “brazen, arrogant, masked militarized force loyal only to Trump.”
Let’s be clear about something. Two people are dead, and that’s tragic. Any loss of life deserves scrutiny, investigation, and if warranted, accountability. But Cohen isn’t calling for investigation. He’s calling for abolition. He’s not asking questions. He’s declaring ICE guilty of systematic murder and demanding we dismantle an entire federal law enforcement agency because he doesn’t like the current administration.
This is the same tired playbook we’ve seen before. Remember “Defund the Police”? How’d that work out for the cities that actually tried it? Crime surged. Communities suffered. And the very people these activists claimed to care about paid the highest price.
When Feelings Trump Facts
Cohen posted a video saying he planned to create an ice cream flavor honoring Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent on January 7. But after Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was fatally shot while apparently recording immigration enforcement operations, Cohen couldn’t bring himself to make the treat. Instead, he made sweeping accusations about government-sanctioned murder.
Here’s what’s missing from his emotional appeal. Context. Facts. Due process. You know, the actual details that matter when we’re talking about life and death situations involving law enforcement.
What were the circumstances of these shootings? Were the agents threatened? Was there a weapon involved? The article mentions Pretti had a “lawfully owned firearm” in his waistband. That’s an important detail, isn’t it? Not because having a legal firearm is wrong, but because it changes the dynamic of an encounter with federal agents conducting enforcement operations.
Cohen doesn’t care about these questions. He’s already reached his verdict. ICE is guilty. Trump is a dictator. America is over unless we’re “brave enough” to stand up.
The Real Threat to Freedom
Let’s talk about freedom for a second. Cohen says “this is not freedom” and claims we must “submit to the Trump administration or risk being killed.” That’s not analysis. That’s hysteria dressed up as moral courage.
You want to know what actually threatens freedom? Open borders. Sanctuary policies that protect criminal aliens over American citizens. Federal agencies that refuse to enforce laws because they don’t align with progressive politics. That’s the real threat to the rule of law.
ICE was created in 2003, not by Trump but as part of the reorganization following 9/11. Its mission is straightforward: enforce federal immigration laws and investigate cross-border crime. Does that mission sometimes involve difficult, even dangerous encounters? Absolutely. Law enforcement isn’t a tea party. It’s messy, complicated work that often puts agents in split-second decision-making situations.
But Cohen would have you believe ICE agents wake up every morning looking for innocent people to murder. That they’re some kind of Trump death squad roaming American streets. It’s absurd on its face.
The Minneapolis Angle
Minnesota has become ground zero for this debate, and that’s no accident. The state has struggled for years with immigration policy, particularly regarding its large Somali refugee population. Governor Tim Walz recently compared ICE actions to the Holocaust. The Holocaust. Six million Jews systematically exterminated, and he’s comparing that to immigration enforcement.
This is where we are. Federal agents doing their jobs, enforcing laws passed by Congress and signed by presidents of both parties, are now Nazis. And ice cream executives are the resistance.
The irony is thick enough to scoop. Ben & Jerry’s, a company that’s never met a progressive cause it didn’t like, has built an empire on capitalism while preaching socialism. They’ve made fortunes selling overpriced ice cream to comfortable liberals who want to feel good about their consumption choices. And now Cohen wants to lecture the rest of us about freedom and bravery?
What We Actually Need
Here’s what we actually need. Serious, honest investigation of what happened in Minneapolis. If agents acted improperly, hold them accountable. If policies need revision, revise them. If training needs improvement, improve it.
What we don’t need is emotional grandstanding from millionaires who think making ice cream qualifies them to dictate national security policy. We don’t need calls to abolish entire federal agencies because two incidents, however tragic, fit a predetermined narrative.
Border security matters. Immigration enforcement matters. The rule of law matters. These aren’t abstract concepts. They’re the foundation of a functioning society. Without borders, you don’t have a country. Without enforcement, you don’t have laws. Without laws, you don’t have freedom. You have chaos.
Cohen says this is “the beginning of the end of the land of the free.” No, Ben. The end begins when we stop enforcing our laws because activists with platforms decide those laws are inconvenient. The end begins when we dismantle the institutions that protect our sovereignty because enforcement makes us uncomfortable.
Ice cream is delicious. Public policy requires more than flavor combinations and feel-good marketing. Maybe stick to what you know.
Related: Federal Court Says No to Judge Who Wanted ICE Agents Defenseless Against Mob Tactics