Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested at US Capitol after Gaza war protest
The co-founder of Ben and Jerry's ice cream was arrested and dragged out of a US Senate committee hearing after protesting US policy on the war in Gaza.
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Ben Cohen, the Ben of Ben & Jerry’s, was one of several people who disrupted the hearing while US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr was speaking.
Kennedy was speaking at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday, when a protester rose to their feet and began shouting: “RFK kills people with AIDs!”
Others chimed in, chanting “When Bobby lies, children die,” and “Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America,” in reference to Kennedy’s controversial views and statements about vaccines.
Police immediately began dragging protesters out of the room and presumably making arrests.
Cohen then also got to his feet, and accused the US government of playing a role in the deaths of children in Gaza. More than 17,000 children have been killed in the besieged Strip since October 2023, mostly in Israeli air strikes.
“Congress sends the bombs that kill children in Gaza, and pays for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid,” Cohen can be heard saying in a video of the incident, before being dragged out by a police officer.
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
Another clip shows Cohen handcuffed and held by another officer outside the hearing room, with someone asking “Ben, why are you being arrested?”
He replies: “Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US.”
Medicaid is the largest health programme in the US providing health services to low-income citizens, and has become the target of the Trump administration’s far-reaching plans to cut government spending.
As he is being dragged away, Cohen adds that the US “needs to ease the siege” and “let food into Gaza,” referencing Israel’s almost two-month long total humanitarian blockade of Gaza.
The blockade has seen Israel preventing essential goods including food, medical supplies and fuel from reaching Gaza’s population of around 2 million people. Several humanitarian organisations have claimed Gaza is at the brink of famine as a result.
US Capitol Police said Cohen was charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding,” a misdemeanor offence which could see him spend 90 days in jail, pay a $500 fine, or both.
Read more: Dozens dead, including 22 children, as Israel launches wave of strikes on Gaza
The seven other protesters received similar charges, while some were charged with assaulting a police officer or resisting arrest, police said.
Cohen tweeted a video of the incident at the US Senate hearing, saying: "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."
Cohen and his Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield, both Jewish, are known for their activism and have previously opposed Israel’s actions in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank.
Earlier this month, Cohen attended a pro-Palestine event with Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib.
The war in Gaza started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. It has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.