On social media videos, protesters circulated around Paul and his wife, Kelley Paul, after leaving President Donald Trump’s keynote speech. Protestants shouted against the Pauls, and carried the couple on the street.
Protesters demand that Kentucky senator recognize the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police carrying out a no-knock order at her home in Louisville, Ky., Her death is one of several by police involved murders that have provoked nationwide protests against racial injustice in legal action.
Paul, perhaps the Senate’s most libertarian-leaning lawmaker, introduced legislation in June to ban no-knock-seeking warrants and named it after Taylor – a point he emphatically pressed in a Friday morning interview on Fox & Friends.
“You could not argue with this mob, but I’m actually the author of the Breonna Taylor Act to End No-Knock Raids. That the irony is lost on these idiots who’re trying to kill the person you actually trying to get rid of no-knock raids, “Paul said.
DC Metropolitan Police officers formed a circle around the senator and his wife and escorted them to their hotel Friday morning. During his interview with Fox & Friends, Paul said he and his wife were unfit. Paul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Paul hypothesized the Protestants were compensated for flying in to encourage a violent riot, but offered no suggestions as to who they might have paid as evidence to substantiate his claim. That protesters are paid to cause disturbance is a common point of contention among some conservative figures for whom there is no substantive evidence. Such claims are regularly challenged by fact-checkers.
“You just think, Oh, these are some normal hoodlums from a big city. I promise you that at least some of the members and the people who attacked us were not from DC. They flew here on a plane,” he said. . “They’ve all got fresh, new clothes.”
Paul also used the incident to go to Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Trump and his allies have repeatedly used unrest in cities across the country as a political point, denying that only the president can protect America with his brand of law and order.
Paul said Harris and Biden did not condemn the violence in protests and that “this mob is their voters.”
“We can not govern Joe Biden the country and have no police,” Paul said. “I mean, we can’t walk down the street in DC right now. That’s how bad it is.”
Asked if he felt Republicans would need extra security to run through Washington, Paul said “probably, yes,” and that he did not feel at home in the city.
“I want to live the life of a normal person,” the senator said.
Eins Biden released a video Wednesday both condemning police violence and denying rebellion and looting. Harris, a former prosecutor, pleaded guilty to a felony charge against a police officer who shot an unarmed black man in the back in Kenosha, Wis. Biden has rejected calls to remove police departments, saying “most police officers are fine.”
Trump made his keynote speech RNC speech Thursday night from the South Lawn of the White House, where a few members of the public wore masks and chairs were not set up to reach social distance. Blocks away, protesters gathered near an entrance to the White House grounds, blew music, blew sirens and sounded horns to try to cover the president’s speech. Protestants, including families, young adults and seniors, dance to go-go music and sing in unison.
When Trump started talking, Protestants engaged in more heated confrontations with Secret Service agents and DC police. Large groups of police, many on bicycles, camped in the blocks near the White House, blocking streets several blocks away from the site.
Paul spoke at the RNC on Tuesday, where he called the billionaire New York real estate president “down to earth” and said he was “proud” of the Trump presidency.
