Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested after US Capitol Gaza protest
Ben Cohen was one of seven people to have been arrested on Wednesday at a Senate committee hearing where Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking.
Both Cohen and his fellow co-founder Jerry Greenfield have previously been vocal about their opposition to Israel's assault on Gaza.
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Earlier this year, their company filed court proceedings after its parent firm sacked its chief executive, alleging that it wanted to stop the boss from making political statements.
Kennedy, the US government's health secretary, was speaking to the committee when the protests started.
Shouts of "RFK kills people with AIDs!" could be heard, along with "when Bobby lies, children die," and, "anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America", which was in reference to Kennedy's views against vaccines.
Police quickly flooded into the room and began dragging out protesters.
Moments after, Cohen got to his feet and accused the US government of being complicit in the deaths of children in Gaza.
The ice cream boss can be seen in footage saying: "You're killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here."
As he was dragged out of the room, he continued shouting: "Congress and the senators need to ease the siege. They need to let food into Gaza. They need to let food to starving kids."
Cohen and the six other protesters were arrested on charges of "crowding, obstructing or incommoding" assault of a police officer or resisting arrest, US Capitol police said in a statement.
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Police said Cohen was only charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, a misdemeanour punishable by 90 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.
Cohen later shared a video of the protest on social media platform Twitter/X, writing: "I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by using bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids of Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities' response."
I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities' response. pic.twitter.com/uOf7xrzzWM — Ben Cohen (@YoBenCohen) May 14, 2025
Cohen, who is Jewish, said earlier this month that the US had a "strange relationship" with Israel which involved "supplying weapons for its genocide".
In 2021, Ben & Jerry's announced that it would no longer allow its Israeli licensee to sell its ice cream in the West Bank and Gaza, saying that doing so would be 'inconsistent with our values'.
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