Senator Rand Paul is ‘attacked’ by protesters leaving RNC at the White House

Kentucky senator Rand Paul and his wife were attacked by a mob of protesters as they left the White House Thursday. 

A massive crowd of raucous protesters gathered outside of the White House for the final day of the Republican National Convention where they tried to drown out Donald Trump’s acceptance speech and accosted guests leaving the event. 

As Paul left the convention with his wife Kelley he was bombarded by a group of Black Lives Matter protesters.

Video shows a horde of people following the senator through the streets and the moment someone pushes down a police officer guarding the senator. Paul was also nearly knocked down in the incident.

In the end officers were able to escort the couple out of the crowd and to their hotel.

Rand tweeted after the incident: ‘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.’   

The Black Lives Matter movement is particularly strong in Kentucky, which Rand represents, following the police killing of Breonna Taylor. 

The 26-year-old African-American EMT was shot eight times by Louisville police officers conducting a ‘no-knock’ warrant at her home as she was in bed on March 13, 2020. The officers behind that shooting have not been arrested or charged.

Rand was just one of many guests accosted by protesters as they left the White House. 

As guests dressed in suits and dresses left the convention, they were bombarded by protesters in the streets who booed them, shouting ‘You racist a**’ and ‘Jacob Blake’. 

The heckled guests kept walking even as demonstrators gave them the middle finger and insulted them.  

Earlier in the evening protesters blared bullhorns, rang bells, and chanted ‘No justice, no peace!’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ when Ivanka Trump introduced her father shortly before 10.30pm.

When Trump started his speech dissidents set off firecrackers and amplified their chants in unison, all of which was audible from the South Lawn. 

Blow horns could be heard in the televised broadcast of Trump’s speech. 

Trump shared his speech late Thursday before a crowd of more than 1,500 on the South Lawn as MAGA supporters cheered ‘USA!’ and ‘Four More Years!’ 

There was no indication that Trump heard the protesters but speech spectators were seen turning around to see where the sounds of sirens, music and blow horns was coming from.

Protesters gathered between the White House and the National Mall and in Black Lives Matter Plaza. 

‘Make some noise if you want to drown out Trump,’ protest organizer Justin Johnson said. 

One group of activists were heard chanting ‘Black Women Matter, because we get stuff done.’

In one crowd of protesters a dance party broke out with EDM remixes of Go-Go and Mo-Town music bumping from speakers.    

The demonstrations were peaceful at the start of the evening, but clashes with police officers ensued when the convention wrapped up.  

There were several organized protests surrounding the White House on Thursday night. 

Refuse Facism held a #TrumpPenceOutNow rally and The Party Majority PAC organized a #ThePeoplesHouse demonstration nearby.

The groups ShutdownDC and Long-Live Go-Go had put out word in advance about the planned ‘noise demonstration and dance party’ to coincide with Trump’s speech. 

‘You guys gotta get some rhythm,’ a protester told Secret Service officers.

‘Would you have rhythm if you were wearing 30 pounds of gear,’ one responded.

‘These presidents are not gonna do anything ’cause they are not the people of color in the streets being shot,’ a black student who travelled from Houston, Texas to take part in the protests said to AFP.

‘There are more people who are ready for Trump to leave office,’ Michael Legend, a 33-year-old black man from Washington said. 

Nearby protesters set up a small guillotine, with the District of Columbia flag as the blade. 

Lafayette Park, a traditional site of demonstrations across from the White House, was sealed off and there were some street closures. 

National Black Lives Matter protests erupted in all 50 states in May following the police killing of black man George Floyd in Minnesota. 

The outrage with the White House has only inflamed with the police shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, in Kenosha, Wisconsin in front of his three children on Sunday. 

Blake survived the attack but has been left paralyzed from the waist down, according to his family’s lawyer.