The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s has been arrested after disrupting a Senate hearing with a pro-Gaza protest.
Ben Cohen, Ben of the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, was one of seven people said to have been arrested at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported.
Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking to the committee when the protests started with someone shouting: “RFK kills people with AIDs!”
“When Bobby lies, children die,” is also heard, as well as: “Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America” in reference to Mr Kennedy’s vaccine views.
Police quickly flooded into the room and began dragging out protesters.
Moments after, Mr Cohen got to his feet and accused the US government of playing a role in the deaths of children in Gaza.
The ice cream boss can be seen in footage of the incident on his feet, gesturing as he shouted at the US health secretary.
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“You’re killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here,” shouted Mr Cohen.
He is one of the last protesters hauled out of the room.
But even as he’s removed, he can still be heard shouting.
“Congress and the senators need to ease the siege. They need to let food into Gaza. They need to let food to starving kids,” he said.
The other six protesters were charged with resisting arrest and assault on an officer, NBC News said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Cohen had attended a pro-Palestine event with Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib.
Afterwards, Mr Cohen tweeted out a video of the incident, 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.”
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Mr Cohen is no stranger to protests or getting arrested.
In July 2023, he was arrested after protesting about the US prosecution of Julian Assange.
‘Poor kids in Gaza’
Israel has killed around 53,000 Palestinians during its war with Hamas, many of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
It is said the real death toll in Gaza is higher because thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.
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The fighting began after the militant group led an attack across the border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.
Since Israel broke a ceasefire on 18 March, almost 3,000 people have been killed, the ministry said.
The Israeli military has claimed, without evidence, to have killed 17,000 militants.
