Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Calls for ICE to Be ‘Defunded and Disbanded’ After Shootings in Minneapolis [WATCH]

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be “defunded and disbanded” following the second fatal shooting this month of an American in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents, declaring:

“This is not America.”

As Fox News reported, Cohen made the remarks in a video posted to X after the death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was fatally shot Saturday during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

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His comments followed the Jan. 7 shooting death of Renee Nicole Good, also 37, who was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during a separate incident in the city.

Cohen said he had initially planned to create a commemorative ice cream flavor honoring Good but abandoned the idea after Pretti’s death.

“I was prepared to make a special ice cream today to memorialize and celebrate the life of Renee Good, but now that Alex’s murder makes it clear that the murder of Renee and the government’s lies were not a mistake but standard operating procedure, I just don’t have it within me,” Cohen said.

According to video footage and witness accounts cited by Cohen, Pretti was recording immigration enforcement activity and appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down.

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He was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground, and beaten. An agent was later seen removing Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.

Cohen framed the incidents as part of a broader federal crackdown tied to the Trump administration.

“We all live in Minneapolis now, because Minneapolis is only the beginning of what they have in mind,” Cohen said. “They’re coming for anyone, anywhere who doesn’t submit.”

He continued, describing federal agents as “a brazen, arrogant, masked militarized force loyal only to Trump and immune from prosecution.”

Cohen asserted that Americans risk death or prosecution for exercising their constitutional rights if they oppose the administration.

“Submit or be murdered. Video them and be murdered. Protest and be murdered, or at least be placed on a list of domestic terrorists and investigated,” he said.

“This is not freedom,” Cohen added.

“This is not the right to free speech or the right to protest. This is not America. This is sheer cruelty. This is the beginning of the end of the land of the free, unless we make it the home of the brave, unless we’re brave enough to stand up for justice, to stand up for our neighbors, to stand up for compassion.”

Cohen then called for ICE to be dismantled entirely. The agency was created in 2003 following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“ICE must be defunded and disbanded,” he said.

“Before 2001, ICE did not even exist. Immigration issues used to be handled by the INS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was part of the Department of Justice. And it was just.”

“Let’s go back to that,” Cohen added.

He also criticized Republicans who publicly emphasize Christian values while supporting immigration enforcement.

“You know, I don’t get it. They say this is a Christian nation,” Cohen said.

“What did he mean when he said, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me?’ ‘Love thy neighbor.’ ‘What you do to the least of these you do to me,’” quoting the Bible.

BREAKING: The Co-Founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream just revealed he “planned to make an ice cream” honoring Renee Good.

Why didn’t you ever make an icecream honoring the life of Ashli Babbitt?

Follow: @BoLoudon
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— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) January 28, 2026

Cohen’s comments come amid escalating national debate over federal immigration enforcement and continued fallout from the Minneapolis shootings, which have sparked protests, political pressure, and renewed scrutiny of ICE operations.

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