Rand Paul’s wife says package containing white powder was ‘pure terrorism’

Kelley Paul, the wife of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), says a Monday incident in which she discovered a white powdery substance in a piece of mail sent to their home was “pure terrorism.” 

“It was a terrifying day, and it’s pure terrorism,” Kelley Paul said during a joint interview with her husband Thursday on the Fox Business Network. “People are just trying to terrorize us into silence, you know, for being a public servant.”

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the substance sent to the Pauls’ home does not appear to be toxic. The package also reportedly contained an image of Paul in bandages with a gun to his head and a note reading: “I’ll finish what your neighbor started you motherf—–.”

Paul was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, an incident that left him with several broken ribs. 

“We have people on the left who think it’s just hilarious,” the senator said during the same Thursday interview. “Stephen Colbert thinks it’s great to make fun of the injuries I had. I had six broken ribs, a damaged lung, part of my lung removed.”

In a tweet on Monday, Rand Paul said he takes threats like the one his wife received on Monday “immensely seriously” and blamed Twitter for allowing users to target him. 

I take these threats immensely seriously. As a repeated target of violence, it is reprehensible that Twitter allows C-list celebrities to encourage violence against me and my family. https://t.co/e1rQ6uwPdf

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 24, 2021

Kelley Paul said she was “terrified” when she discovered the package. 

“You know, you think of anthrax, you think of the, you know, the poisonings that happened years ago when people sent poisons in the mail, ricin or anthrax,” she said. “Immediately called Rand, the FBI, the sheriffs.”

An investigation into the incident by the the FBI and Capitol Police is ongoing.