U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Friday morning he feared for his life as he and his wife were confronted by what he called “an angry mob” as they left the Republican National Convention.
“It was horrific,” Paul said in an interview with Fox News. “They’re attempting to push the police over to get to me, so at one point they push a policeman backwards, he stumbles and he’s trying to catch his balance and I catch the back of his flak jacket to stabilize him to make sure he’s OK because he’s our defense.
“If he’s down, the mob’s loose on us.”
Video posted on social media showed dozens of people confronting Paul and his wife, who were flanked by Metro Police, in a Washington street after midnight.
Protesters could be heard shouting “No Justice, No Peace” and “Say Her Name" before one appeared to briefly clash with an officer, pushing him and his bike backward, sending the officer into Paul's shoulder.
“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, might just have been injured by being kicked in the head, or kicked in the stomach until we were senseless,” Paul said Friday morning.
Officers called for demonstrators to move backward and get on the sidewalk.
Breonna Taylor’s name has been a rallying cry among demonstrators during recent protests against racial inequality and police brutality. The 26-year-old emergency medical tech was shot multiple times March 13 when police officers burst into her Louisville 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.
It was unclear whether any protesters made physical contact with Paul. The senator and his wife kept walking and did not appear to have suffered any injuries.
The senator, who was wearing a mask as he walked down the street, was leaving the White House after President Donald Trump accepted the GOP’s renomination on the South Lawn earlier Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
