Ben and Jerry's co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, were among the 300 activists arrested at the U.S. Capitol over the Democracy Awakening protest on Monday.
According to Ben and Jerry's website, Democracy Awakening aims to bring hundreds of people together to fix the nation's broken democracy. The organization is focused on two things- the unregulated cash used in the elections and campaigns, and the citizens' right to vote. The U.S. Capitol Police claimed that the protesters were arrested because of their illegal demonstration activities. All the captured activists were processed and released from the scene.
"Democracy Awakening is just the beginning of a movement to ensure that every citizen's voice is heard and that power in this country is returned to the people," Ben and Jerry's website says.
Ben and Jerry's co-founders are not new in taking a stand for what they believe in. Last year, they launched "Save Our Swirled" to bring people's awareness on the climate change. They also introduced a new name to Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to "I Dough, I Dough" to honor the Supreme Court's ruling on every couple's right to marry. On Tuesday, they will be supporting Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders by giving out free ice creams at the Delaware venue, KTLA claims. A new ice cream was also named after Sanders, called "Bernie's Yearning."
Democracy Awakening was mobilize "to protect voting rights, get big money out of politics and demand a fair hearing and an up or down vote on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee." Members of the organization said they are coalition of organizations from various sectors who believe that they need to fight attacks on "voting rights and the integrity of the vote by big money."
According to police authorities, they have captured a total of 1,200 rallyists since the demonstration began on April 11. The protesters were charged of crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
