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Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Ben & Jerry’s slammed for US ‘justice system is racist’ tweet

'We need real justice in the legal system. This isn’t it,' the ice cream brand wrote on Twitter

Ben & Jerry’s has been criticized heavily on the Internet after it accused the US justice system of being “racist” in the light of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The Vermont-based ice cream brand took to Twitter and wrote, “The #RittenhouseTrial displays yet again that our “justice” system is racist. How would this trial be going if he was a Black 17 yr old that crossed state lines illegally carrying an AR-15 and shot 3 white protesters?”

“We need real justice in the legal system. This isn’t it.,” it added on Thursday, November 11, after Rittenhouse’s defense rested its case. The Rittenhouse case has been attracting massive attention since August 2020 when the then 17-year-old Illinois native allegedly shot dead two men and injured another during confrontations at two locations in Kenosha amid the unrest in Wisconsin's city after a cop shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back.

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The teenager is facing a number of charges, including first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, and use of a dangerous weapon. Rittenhouse’s lawyers have maintained that he acted in self-defense on the night when protests erupted.

Meanwhile, after the ice cream company’s tweet, several started slamming it for endorsing a “false narrative”. A user fired, “Why are you making this about race? Color war? United we stand! Stop playing the race card! Over it.” The second one wrote, “You are comparing an actual case being adjudicated in a court of law with actual facts being judged by the jury and trier of fact, and inserting a hypothetical with a presumed conclusion held as conventional wisdom without even trying to speak to the elements of the 4 'crimes?'” The third one added, “NEW FLAVOR! Hen & Sheeples is proud to present... A Spoon Full of Tyranny!  Our new synthetic ice cream is packed with egregious unhealthy advice and topped with hard-to-chew nuggets of misinformation. Don’t miss the swirls of lies and sticky bits of propaganda in every bite!”

A tweet read: “Whoever runs your media doesn’t know what the hell they are talking about. Parroting incorrect talking points with a useless hypothetical all to virtue signal for a overpriced, overrated ice cream brand.” Another one stated, “But there's no black version of Kyle Rittenhouse, so you don't know, you're just theorising about a hypothetical change to the scenario and going ‘yep, thats totally how it would happen’.” “I recall when a group of armed white militia showed up on the MI state capitol steps. Some said, "If they had been Black, they would have been shot". 3 days later, a group of armed Black men appeared at the exact same spot. Absolutely nothing happened to them. Not shot or hassled,” a tweet noted.

However, there were a few who supported Ben & Jerry’s. A person said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for this. I'm going to inhale two pints of your toffee nut ice cream today in honor of you and this tweet. Thank you thank you thank you. Also, thank you to @Unilever for empowering you to maintain your brand identity and values. I did a project for Unilever when I lived in the Philippines. Tough project but I really love that company and respect the hell out of both of you.” Another one remarked, “I agree with your premise, that if he were black, the conversation would be very different. He obtained the gun after he got to Kenosha, and it’s not illegal for him to have that particular type of weapon there, apparently.”