Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen arrested after Senate Gaza protest | EUROtoday

Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, was arrested throughout a protest within the US Senate over army assist to Israel and humanitarian situations in Gaza.

Protesters disrupted the listening to on Wednesday whereas Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was testifying.

Mr Cohen was charged with a misdemeanour offence, whereas one other six demonstrators have been additionally arrested and face various extra critical prices, US Capitol Police instructed BBC News.

A video shared on social media confirmed Mr Cohen being escorted from the constructing by police together with his fingers tied behind his again.

“Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,” he stated in a video after somebody requested why he was “getting arrested”.

A police spokesperson stated that Mr Cohen was charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding – a misdemeanour offence usually utilized in civil disobedience instances within the US capital.

Six different demonstrators have been additionally arrested on the listening to and face prices together with assaulting a police officer and/or resisting arrest.

Ben & Jerry’s has lengthy been recognized for taking a public stance on social and political points because it was based in 1978 by Mr Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

It has usually backed campaigns on points like LGBTQ+ rights and local weather change.

Ben & Jerry’s was purchased by the multinational customers items large Unilever in 2000.

The merger settlement between the 2 corporations created an impartial board tasked with defending Ben & Jerry’s values and mission.

But Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have been at loggerheads for some time. Their relationship soured in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s introduced it was halting gross sales within the West Bank.

The two corporations are presently locked in a authorized battle.

In response to a request for remark, a spokesperson for Unilever instructed BBC News: “Ben Cohen takes stances as an activist citizen on issues he finds personally important.

“These actions are on his personal as a person and never on behalf of Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever.”

In March, Ben & Jerry’s filed a legal case accusing Unilever of sacking chief executive David Stever over disagreements over the brand’s political campaigns.

At the time a Unilever spokesperson said it was “disillusioned that the confidentiality of an worker profession dialog has been made public”.

The dispute escalated over the past 12 months as Ben & Jerry’s advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza.