Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen is arrested outside the DOJ
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen is arrested outside the Justice Department in protest of the prosecution of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange
Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen was arrested by police outside the Justice Department building in Washington while protesting the capture of Julian Assange.
The 72-year-old businessman and left-wing activist was part of a group denouncing charges against the WikiLeaks founder.
Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in London since April 2019 for leaking state secrets and may soon be extradited to the US.
Cohen said Assange’s imprisonment violated free speech.
“Right now press freedom is going up in smoke unless things change and we don’t change them,” he said while standing outside the Justice Department.
He then set fire to a large paper document sitting on an easel, which he said was the bill of rights.
Cohen said he set it on fire in four places — one for every year the Australian-born computer hacker has been in solitary confinement.
Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen was arrested by police outside the Justice Department building in Washington while protesting the capture of Julian Assange