Ben and Jerry’s founder Ben Cohen was arrested Thursday by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) police for blocking the entrance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Washington, DC, where he was protesting the arrest of Julian Assange.
Assange is currently incarcerated at Belmarsh Prison in London and could soon be extradited to the US
Footage from the scene showed Cohen sitting next to a woman holding a “Free Assange” sign as police and security personnel stood nearby. Later images released by the Associated Press showed Cohen being led away in handcuffs by DHS agents.
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Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, is arraigned before the Department of Justice on July 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the DHS for comment, but did not hear back.
Cohen, an ice cream mogul turned political activist, said after being seen at the DOJ that his presence had nothing to do with Ben and Jerry’s recent controversies over Israel and Palestine or recent statements about the US existing on “stolen” land.
“It’s outrageous. Julian Assange is nonviolent. He’s presumed innocent. And yet, somehow or other, he’s been imprisoned in solitary confinement for four years. This is torture. He revealed the truth, and for that, he’s suffering, and that is we must do everything we can to help him and to help preserve democracy, which is based on freedom of the press,” Cohen said during the rally according to CODEPINK, a left-wing activist organization.
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As a pink smoke bomb clouds the air, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, refuses to leave a ticket outside the Department of Justice before being arrested on July 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Cohen was previously arrested for disorderly conduct at another protest in Vermont in 2018, this time for speaking out against Vermont Air National Guard aircraft noise.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital who covers national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
