The co-founder of Ben & Jerry's has been arrested after taking part in a pro-Palestine protest inside the US Capitol.
Ben Cohen, who launched the Vermont ice cream company with his friend Jerry Greenfield in 1978, was one of seven people detained after disrupting a congressional committee hearing on Wednesday.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr was tesifying before Senators over his plans to downsize the Department of Health and Human Services.
But the Health Secretary was interrupted when protests started with someone shouting: "RFK kills people with AIDs!"
They also screamed "when Bobby lies, children die” and "anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America" in reference to Mr Kennedy's vaccine skepticism.
Moments after police began dragging out protesters, Mr Cohen, 74, got to his feet and accused Donald Trump’s government of fueling the deaths of children in Gaza.
"You're killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here," he said.
"Congress and the senators need to ease the siege. They need to let food into Gaza. They need to let food to starving kids.”
Mr Cohen was arrested, while other six protesters were charged with resisting police and assault on an officer, NBC News reported.
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
Later, Mr Cohen posted a video of the incident to X, formerly Twitter, writing: "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."
It was not the first time Mr Cohen had a brush with the law, having been arrested in 2023 after protesting outside the Department for Justice over the prosecution of Julian Assange.
Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 massacre — which killed 1,200 Israelis — has resulted in the death of around 52,000 Palestinians, many of then children, according to Gazan health officials.
