An angry mob attacked Sen. Rand Paul and his wife as they were leaving the White House following the end of the Republican National Convention early Friday, and demonstrators harassed and threatened other supporters of President Trump as they left the event.
Video shows Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, and his wife Kelley being confronted by a mob of Black Lives Matter activists who shoved police escorting them out of the RNC conference. Protesters knocked one of the officers, who had a bicycle, into Mr. Paul.
“It was horrific,” Mr. Paul said on “Fox & Friends. “These people were unhinged. I whispered to the policeman, ’They know who I am. You have to get reinforcements. It’s going to get worse.’ “
The lawmaker thanked District of Columbia police on Twitter “for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob.”
Mrs. Paul took issue with some media coverage saying activists “confronted” her and her husband.
“No @politico, we were not ’confronted’ by protestors. We were circled by a hateful mob shouting vile expletives, preventing us from moving,” she said on Twitter. “Being swarmed by a threatening, screaming mob is violence.”
She said she and her husband “were surrounded and unable to move” until D.C. police officers on bicycles arrived and created “a moving barricade to get us to safety.”
“Rand and I are grateful to the @DCPoliceDept for their protection last night,” she tweeted.
Mr. Paul said Secret Service eventually sent them in a car to the Trump International Hotel, where they planned to take another car back to their original hotel.
“As we got close to [the hotel] nobody would let us through,” he said.
Protesters were chanting at Mr. Paul, “Say her name,” a reference to Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in Kentucky during a no-knock raid at her home earlier this year. Mr. Paul has sponsored legislation, named for the victim, that would ban the use of no-knock warrants.
“They were also shouting ’Say her name’ — Breonna Taylor,” he said. “You couldn’t reason with this mob, but I’m actually the author of the Breonna Taylor law to end ’no-knock’ raids. The irony is lost on these idiots.”
The Kentucky senator and his wife weren’t the only guests at the RNC who were harassed and threatened as they left the event overnight Thursday. A large crowd that included Black Lives Matter activists had gathered near the White House on Thursday night, trying to drown out the president’s South Lawn acceptance speech with firecrackers, loud music and airhorns.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, said he and others who attended the event were fearful as they tried to leave the White House. He said he and his wife were able to get a ride with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who has a security detail in his post as the top House Republican.
“I just asked Kevin, I said ’Hey, can we just jump in with you, pile into your Suburban and get back to Capitol Hill?’ ” Mr. Jordan said on “Fox & Friends. “So we were fortunate. I was nervous to walk out, when particularly when had Polly with me. … And this is scary. Rand’s right.”
Mr. Paul said the episode is an example of why Democrat Joseph R. Biden shouldn’t be elected president, or America will turn into Portland, Oregon, scene of months of violent street protests.
“This mob is their voters. This is the new Democrat Party,” Mr. Paul said.
Video showed activists harassing and confronting people leaving the White House. One man was punched in the back of the head and knocked to the ground by a mob.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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