Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen dragged out of US Senate shouting, ‘Congress pays to kill children in Gaza’ | Watch

Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream was handcuffed and dragged out of the United States Senate for protesting Congress' “paying for bombs that kill poor children in Gaza”.

In a video posted on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Ben Cohen said: “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. (sic)”

“You’re killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here. Let food into Gaza,” Ben Cohen was heard shouting as he was arrested from the public gallery and led away.

Bloomberg reported that Capitol Police charged Ben Cohen under a District of Columbia code that prohibits crowding, obstructing or incommoding — a citation often used in civil disobedience cases in the capital. Six other protestors also face charges, including a serious one for assaulting a police officer, the BB report added.

Watch: Ben & Jerry's co-founder dragged out of US Senate

The video has been viewed 24 lakh times (at time of writing), and generated a host of comments, quotes and posts supporting the 74-year-old businessman and philanthropist who has been vocal in his support for the Palestinians.

He was among six other protestors forcibly removed from the Senate hearing on May 14, for lodging their protests during the speech by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., who was visibly startled by the interruption. RFK Jr. was presenting his department's budget proposal.

Ben Cohen, who is Jewish, in 2024 was among other prominent Jewish figures who signed an open letter opposing the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. “I understand that I have a higher profile than most people and so I raise my voice, it gets heard. But I need you and others to understand that I speak for millions of people who feel the same way,” he had said.

‘Americans outraged by slaughter in Gaza’

Speaking to AFP after his release, Ben Cohen said that he was speaking on behalf of “millions of Americans outraged by the slaughter in Gaza”.

“It got to a point where we had to do something. It is scandalising that the US approved $20 billion worth of bombs for Israel even as social programs are squeezed back home. The majority of Americans hate what's going on, what our country is doing with our money and in our name,” told the agency.

According to a Pew Research Center Poll conducted in April 2025, the general pubic opinion towards Israel in the US has become increasingly unfavorable, especially among Democrats.

Ben Cohen also raised the issue of “moral and spiritual breach”, saying, “Condoning and being complicit in the slaughter of tens of thousands of people strikes at the core of us as far as human beings and what our country stands for. The US pours roughly half its discretionary budget into war-related spending. If you spent half of that money making lives better around the world, I think there'd be a whole lot less friction.”

Founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978, Ben & Jerry's was bought by Unilever in 2000, with an agreement established an independent board at Ben & Jerry’s to protect its social values.

Netizens Reactions: ‘Fearless, honourable, on the right side of history…’

(With inputs from Agencies)