Rand Paul and Wife Confronted by Protesters Outside White House After RNC: ‘Just Got Attacked by an Angry Mob’

Sen. Rand Paul and his wife found themselves surrounded by a crowd of protesters shouting for him to acknowledge the shooting of Breonna Taylor as they were leaving the White House after the Republican National Convention early Friday morning. In a video posted on social media, dozens of people can be seen confronting Paul and his wife, who was flanked by Metro Police, in a Washington street after midnight.

“No justice no peace,” protesters could be heard saying, as well as “Say her name,” before one appeared to briefly clash with an officer, pushing him and his bike backward and into Paul’s shoulder. Officers called for the demonstrators to move back and get onto the sidewalk. After the encounter, Paul tweeted that he was “attacked.”

“Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House. Thank you to [DC Police Department] for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob,” the 57-year-old Senator from Kentucky tweeted. Sen. Ted Cruz weighed in on the incident, calling it “horrific” on Twitter and writing, “This madness has to stop.”

It’s not clear if any of the protesters made physical contact with Paul, who, along with his wife, kept walking and does not appear to have suffered any injuries. Earlier in the night, he had been at the White House, where President Donald Trump accepted the Republicans’ renomination on the South Lawn Thursday.

In his closing speech, delivered from the South Lawn of the White House, Trump opened with a reference to Hurricane Laura, confirming he plans to visit Louisiana and Texas this weekend to survey the damage. After calling for rounds of applause for First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his childcare, Trump officially accepted the GOP nomination. “My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States,” he said.

Videos from after the convention showed other attendees being confronted by protesters leaving the event. The protesters in Paul’s case were searching for justice for Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical tech who was fatally shot multiple times on March 13 when Louisville, Kentucky, police officers burst into her apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation. The warrant to search her home was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.