Ben & Jerry’s released a strong statement on January 11, 2021, in response to the events of January 6, 2021.
They said that what happened was a riot intended to maintain white supremacy rather than just a protest.
The statement claims that “it was permitted to occur.” In the center of our democracy, the mostly white insurrectionists roamed free and unpunished.
Ben & Jerry’s stressed that the riot’s tolerance was intrinsically tied to the participants’ race.
They drew attention to the glaring disparity between the treatment of the rioters and that of Black, Brown, or Indigenous people in a same situation.
The business said that since the insurrectionists were white, they were given more leeway. The statement emphasized the systemic racism.