Ben Cohen, from Ben & Jerry’s, was one of several people who disrupted a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday when US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking.
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.
Ben Cohen shared a clip and wrote: “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.”
One person wrote: “Ben Cohen co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s being arrested for protesting in Senate about the killing of children in Israel. What a hero.”
Cohen founded Ben & Jerry’s with Jerry Greenfield, whom he met while at school in Merrick, on Long Island in New York. They opened the business in Burlington, Vermont, and saw it grow into an international brand and one of the largest ice-cream firms in the US.
He has since been charged along with seven other protesters from Wednesday’s protest. The accusation of “crowding, obstructing or incommoding” is commonly used against protesters in Washington DC, and carries a punishment of up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine or even both.
