Ben Cohen, the co-founder of famous American ice cream chain Ben & Jerry's, was arrested and dragged out of the US Senate for protesting against the United States' supportive role in Israel's war on Gaza. In a viral video, it was seen that security personnel grabbed him, handcuffed him dragged him out of the room.
Posting on X a video of the incident, he later said, "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."
The incident reportedly happened in the middle of US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr's giving testimony about his department. Within a few minutes into the hearing, 74-year-old Cohen and other protesters began sloganeering over the US' unwavering support for Israel in the war against Gaza.
Cohen was heard shouting "Congress pays for bombs" while several other protesters were seen standing with posters saying "RFK KILLS PEOPLE WITH AIDS".
Cohen's voice was heard as a protest against the Trump administrations proposal to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, the federal health insurance program aimed for low‑income families.
The septuagenarian businessman and philanthropist also urged the senators to convince Israel to let food and humanitarian aid reach the "starving kids" in Gaza.
As per media reports, following his release, Cohen told in an interview, "It got to a point where we had to do something," as it was "scandalizing" that the US approved "$20 billion worth of bombs" for Israel while the social programs are slashed in the United States.
"The majority of Americans hate what's going on, what our country is doing with our money and in our name', Cohen said as per a report by NDTV.
"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," he further added.
Israel's war in Gaza began after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side while Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 52,928 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Owing to Israel's two-month-long aid blockade, Gaza is currently surviving under the threat of a famine with the entire population facing a food crisis.
