Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Cohen Arrested for Protesting RFK Hearing

A congressional hearing on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s department budget became a flashpoint for protestors, including 74-year-old Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, who was arrested after interrupting the proceedings to denounce the war in Gaza.

While some protesters disrupted the hearing to speak out against Kennedy’s policies, Cohen sought to draw attention to the ongoing military campaign against civilians in Palestine, shouting that “Congress pays for bombs that kill kids in Gaza” and that the U.S. is looking to cut funding to Medicaid to continue supporting the Israeli government.

Cohen, who is Jewish, was charged with a misdemeanor and later shared a video of the protest on social media.

“I can’t call myself an American and not put my body on the line,” he stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “For me, our government-funded destruction and slaughter of families living in Gaza is an attack on justice, common decency, and what I had thought was the American way.”

While Cohen and his co-founder Jerry Greenfield sold the brand to Unilever in 2000 and are no longer involved in day-to-day operations, the duo has been outspoken on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians for several years. The Ben & Jerry’s brand has also involved itself in the issue, and it’s been met with backlash in the process.

In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced it would cease sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, prompting Cohen and Greenfield to publish an op-ed in the New York Times supporting the move and defending the brand against allegations of antisemitism.

The issue again came to a head last year, the Times noted, when Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever, alleging it fired the brand’s CEO over social activism and sought to censor the brand’s messaging.

The lawsuit followed an announcement by Unilever in March 2024 that it is seeking to spin off its ice cream unit into an independent entity. Last month, Cohen told the Wall Street Journal he is currently trying to put together a group of investors to acquire the brand.

Nosh has reached out to Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever for comment.