Ben & Jerry's Co-Founder Arrested During Protest At RFK Jr.'s Senate Hearing

One of the founders of the fashionable crystal pick marque Ben & Jerry’s was forcefully escorted retired of a Senate proceeding connected Wednesday and arrested aft protesting the United States’ engagement successful Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

“Congress pays for bombs that termination kids successful Gaza!” Ben Cohen, the 74-year-old co-founder of the fashionable crystal pick institution and a progressive activist, shouted astatine the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing. Video shows a Capitol constabulary serviceman yanking him from wherever helium was lasting and starring him retired of the room.

Cohen was besides heard shouting, “Congress kills!”

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

Kennedy was speaking astatine the proceeding erstwhile protestors began shouting implicit him.

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

“Members of the assemblage are reminded disruptions volition not beryllium permitted portion the committee conducts its business,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said.

When the country appeared a spot calmer, Cassidy joked that the objection was a “made-for-C-SPAN moment.”

According to multiple outlets, USCP said 7 people, including Cohen, were arrested astatine the proceeding connected suspicion of crowding, obstructing, oregon incommoding. Some were besides arrested connected suspicion of assaulting a constabulary officer.

A spokesperson for Cohen told Mediaite that helium would not beryllium silenced portion the U.S. is backing Israel’s war, which manyorganizations person called a genocide and has turned into a crisis of starvation arsenic Israel has blocked nutrient and assistance from entering the territory for much than 2 months. The US has approved billions of dollars successful weapons to Israel.

“We are expected to beryllium bully Americans and look the different mode arsenic Israel prevents food, water, and medicine from reaching the remaining radical of Gaza. Israel is virtually starving them to death,” the spokesperson said.

“We volition not look away. We volition not beryllium silenced. We volition bash everything we tin to get our authorities to halt being complicit successful starving small kids to death.”

Ben & Jerry’s and its co-founders, Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, are known for their activism. Cohen and Greenfield were arrested successful 2016 during Democracy Awakening protests astatine the Capitol. Cohen was besides arrested successful 2023 during a protestation successful enactment of WikiLeaks steadfast Julian Assange.

In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would nary longer merchantability the crystal pick “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)” due to the fact that it was “inconsistent with our values.”

USCP and Ben & Jerry’s did not instantly respond to HuffPost’s petition for comment.