Police who escorted Rand Paul after RNC should receive a ‘medal of some kind’
The police officers who escorted Sen. Rand Paul through a crowd of protesters in Washington, D.C., this week should receive a “medal of some kind,” President Donald Trump said Friday evening.
Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said early Friday morning that he and his wife were “attacked by an angry mob” who threatened their lives as they were heading back to their hotel following the conclusion of the Republican National Convention at the White House Thursday evening.
Videos on social media show protesters surrounding Paul and his wife on a crowded block. Protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace” and “Say her name: Breonna Taylor.”
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In the videos, police formed a perimeter around the Pauls, telling protesters to “move back.” Paul said he and his wife were unharmed, but that police saved them.
Speaking to a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump said Paul and others “walked out to a bunch of thugs” Thursday following his nomination acceptance speech.
“Rand Paul was in big trouble last night. He’s a good guy, he’s a friend of mine, and that shouldn’t happen to anybody,” Trump said. “But here’s the U.S. senator walking outside, and those four policemen should be brought over to the White House. We ought to give them a medal of some kind, and we’re going to do it. We’re going to do it.”
Trump, who has frequently called protesters “rioters” and “looters,” went on to say that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser “should be ashamed of herself” for the situation. He also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the federal government to deploy the military domestically.
In Louisville, protesters have been marching for more than 90 days to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman and emergency room technician who was unarmed when fatally shot by police inside her home in March.
Paul filed federal legislation in June to prohibit police officers across the country from using no-knock warrants like the one that led to the fatal shooting of Taylor. The Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously on June 11 to ban no-knock warrants.
“I’m actually the author of the Breonna Taylor law to end no-knock raids,” Paul told “Fox and Friends” Friday morning. “So the irony is lost on these idiots that they’re trying to kill the person who’s actually trying to get rid of no-knock raids.”
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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who will make the decision on whether to charge the Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor, condemned the protesters who confronted Paul in a tweet Friday morning.
“No public official of either party should be treated like Senator @RandPaul and his wife Kelley were last night,” wrote Cameron, who also spoke at the Republican National Convention. “These actions have no place among peaceful calls for change in this country.”
No public official of either party should be treated like Senator @RandPaul and his wife Kelley were last night. These actions have no place among peaceful calls for change in this country.
— Attorney General Daniel Cameron (@kyoag) August 28, 2020
In the Friday interview with Fox and Friends, Paul went after Democrats while denouncing violent protests.
“I don’t hear Joe Biden or Kamala Harris saying one thing about the violence. This mob is their voters. This is the new Democrat party. And if we don’t resist this, the United States is going to become Portland,” Paul said, referring to the Oregon city that has been gripped by protests for months.
He added: “We can’t let our cities be taken over by these marauders and thugs.”
Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com or follow on Twitter @TobinBen.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Trump: Police who escorted Rand Paul after RNC should get medal
