Ben & Jerry's Co-Founder Arrested During Gaza Protest At US Senate

One of the founders of the popular ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s was forcefully escorted out of a US Senate hearing on Wednesday and arrested after protesting the United States’ involvement in Israel’s war on Gaza.

“Congress pays for bombs that kill kids in Gaza!” Ben Cohen, the 74-year-old co-founder of the popular ice cream company and a progressive activist, shouted at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing. Video shows a Capitol police officer yanking him from where he was standing and leading him out of the room.

Cohen was also heard shouting, “Congress kills!” 

He joined other protestors who were denouncing controversial Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy was speaking at the hearing when protestors began shouting over him.

Some reports said that protestors shouted, “RFK kills people with AIDS,” while others said that protestors shouted, “RFK kills people with hate.” (Watch the video below.)

“Members of the audience are reminded disruptions will not be permitted while the committee conducts its business,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said.

When the room appeared a bit calmer, Cassidy joked that the demonstration was a “made-for-C-SPAN moment.” 

According to multiple outlets, USCP said seven people, including Cohen, were arrested at the hearing on suspicion of crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. Some were also arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. 

A spokesperson for Cohen told Mediaite that he would not be silenced while the U.S. is backing Israel’s war, which manyorganisations have called a genocide and has turned into a crisis of starvation as Israel has blocked food and aid from entering the territory for more than two months. The US has approved billions of dollars in weapons to Israel. 

“We are expected to be good Americans and look the other way as Israel prevents food, water, and medicine from reaching the remaining people of Gaza. Israel is literally starving them to death,” the spokesperson said. 

“We will not look away. We will not be silenced. We will do everything we can to get our government to stop being complicit in starving little kids to death.” 

Ben & Jerry’s and its co-founders, Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, are known for their activism. Cohen and Greenfield were arrested in 2016 during Democracy Awakening protests at the Capitol. Cohen was also arrested in 2023 during a protest in support of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would no longer sell the ice cream “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)” because it was “inconsistent with our values.”

USCP and Ben & Jerry’s did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.