Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a longtime progressive activist, was arrested and forcibly removed from a U.S. Senate hearing for protesting American support for Israel in the Gaza war, according to a CNN report. The dramatic moment, captured on video and widely circulated on social media, unfolded during a congressional session where U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. was testifying on the restructuring of federal health agencies.
Cohen stood up during the hearing and loudly condemned U.S. military aid to Israel, shouting:
“Congress pays for bombs.”
He and several others began chanting around 15 minutes into the session, disrupting proceedings. Capitol Police quickly intervened, dragging Cohen out of the hearing room, along with six other demonstrators. All seven were arrested on charges of "obstructing, or incommoding," a common legal term used for interrupting public proceedings in Washington, D.C.
If convicted, Cohen could face up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.
Following the incident, Cohen shared the viral video on X (formerly Twitter), saying:
“I told Congress they are killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they are paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities’ response.”
Cohen was referring to the ongoing Gaza conflict, where U.S. military support for Israel has come under increasing scrutiny, and to domestic healthcare cuts — particularly Republican proposals to slash Medicaid, which provides healthcare to millions of low-income Americans. The juxtaposition of funding foreign wars while reducing aid for domestic welfare programs has become a key talking point for critics.
This arrest is not an isolated event for Ben Cohen, who has a history of civil disobedience. In 2023, he was detained outside the Justice Department while protesting the imprisonment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Cohen’s activism also made headlines in 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s decided to stop selling its products in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing human rights concerns — a move that sparked international controversy and backlash from Israeli officials.
Cohen remains a vocal critic of both U.S. foreign policy and domestic inequality, using his platform to call out what he sees as moral and political contradictions in American governance.
