Ben & Jerry’s founder arrested at Senate hearing after protesting war in Gaza

WASHINGTON – One of the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, Ben Cohen, was arrested on May 14 in Washington, DC, after he interrupted a Senate committee hearing to protest Congress’ funding for Israel’s military as it wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Cohen, 74, was among a group of protesters that disrupted a Senate health committee hearing as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr promoted President Donald Trump’s budget for the next fiscal year.

The protesters shouted and held up signs as Mr Kennedy was speaking, before Capitol Police officers escorted them out, according to a broadcast of the hearing.

A video posted by Cohen on social media showed him being detained by police officers, his hands behind his back.

“I said that Congress is paying to bomb poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US,” Cohen can be heard saying in the video he posted.

He also called on lawmakers to do more to get food into Gaza, where the United Nations and other aid agencies have said a famine is looming.

“They need to get food to starving kids,” he said.

Cohen was charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, the Capitol Police said in a statement, a misdemeanour that can be punishable by up to 90 days in prison and a US$500 (S$650) fine if convicted.

Six other people were also arrested on charges that included assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Cohen has been released from custody, the police said.

Cohen and Mr Jerry Greenfield, the two founders of the ice cream brand, have long been outspoken about political issues, including criticising Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. They gave up most involvement with the company when it was sold to Unilever in 2000, but have remained outspoken, as has the company.

Ben & Jerry’s in 2021 said it would end sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because it was “inconsistent” with the company’s values. The co-founders, who are both Jewish, wrote in a 2021 New York Times Opinion essay that they supported the company’s decision.

“As Jewish supporters of the state of Israel, we fundamentally reject the notion that it is antisemitic to question the policies of the state of Israel,” they wrote.

That decision led to backlash in Israel and hurt sales at Unilever, which eventually sold the Ben & Jerry’s business in Israel to a local partner. In March 2024, Unilever said it would spin off its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, to reduce costs.

Ben & Jerry’s in 2024 sued Unilever over accusations that it had fired the ice cream brand’s chief executive because of its social activism and had

censored the ice cream maker’s attempts to express support for Palestinian refugees

. Unilever has rejected those claims and called for the suit to be dismissed. NYTIMES