Sen. Rand Paul says he and his wife were ‘attacked by an angry mob’ after Trump speech

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was met with protesters early Friday while walking with his wife from the White House following President Trump’s closing speech at the Republican National Convention.

“Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House,” Paul tweeted, while thanking the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for “literally saving our lives.”

Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House. Thank you to @DCPoliceDept for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 28, 2020

Video uploaded to Twitter by a bystander showed Paul and his wife, Kelley Paul, being escorted by police through a crowd of protesters following the events at the White House.

Some officers can be heard shouting “move back” at the crowd of protesters as they chanted for the senator to “say her name,” a common refrain from demonstrators regarding the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Paul’s home state of Kentucky.

During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Paul said that he and his wife were unharmed but said protesters were threatening to kill them.

“They were yelling threats, they were trying to push the police over to get to me, they were grabbing at us,” Paul said.

When asked by host Steve Doocy to elaborate on the alleged threats, Paul said protesters threatened to “‘eff you up’ and kill you.”

“I truly believe this with every fiber of my being — had they gotten at us, they would have gotten us to the ground, we might not have been killed, we might just have been injured by being kicked in the head or kicked in the stomach until we were senseless,” Paul elaborated.

Paul noted that he was the senator who introduced the “Justice for Breonna Taylor Act,” which would prohibit federal law enforcement from carrying out a warrant “until after the officer provides notice of his or her authority and purpose.”

“The irony is lost on these idiots. They’re trying to kill the person who’s actually trying to get rid of no-knock raids,” Paul said.

The senator also claimed that the protesters possibly came from out of state and were “paid to be anarchists.”

The Hill has reached out to D.C. Police for comment.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was fatally shot by Louisville police back in March.

One clip of the incident with Paul, which has garnered more than 1.6 million views, shows an officer using a bicycle to push back protesters and Paul grabbing his arm to keep the man from falling.

The video does not appear to show Paul or his wife being touched by any protesters. The couple did not appear to be injured.

The Hill has reached out to the senator’s office for comment.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the incident “horrific” and called for the “madness to stop.”

Horrific. Our prayers are with you, my friend. @RandPaul This madness has to stop. https://t.co/RClfGSgYRt

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 28, 2020

Other attendees leaving the White House were also approached by protesters, including Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.).

Mast, who lost both legs and a finger while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, wrote: “They thought I would be an easy target because my prosthetics move slowly. They were wrong.”

They thought I would be an easy target because my prosthetics move slowly. They were wrong. https://t.co/QooCkK5KFn

— Brian Mast (@BrianMastFL) August 28, 2020

Protesters gathered in Lafayette Square and the Black Lives Matter plaza outside of the White House on Thursday night ahead of Trump’s speech, where he formally accepted the GOP’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Taylor’s death, in addition to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans, has prompted nationwide protests calling for widespread police reforms.

The demonstration in Washington, D.C., also comes amid a period of civil unrest after last weekend’s police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot in the back seven times by police while trying to get into his car in Kenosha, Wis. Blake is currently paralyzed from the waist down.

Updated at 9:24 a.m.