News

Rand Paul receives suspicious package containing white powder at home

by Sarah Polus - 05/24/21 10:42 PM ET

The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police are investigating a suspicious package that was delivered to the home of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Politico reports that an unidentified white powder was in the package, which is currently being tested by authorities.

The package also featured an image of Paul in bandages with a gun to his head. The text accompanying the image stated: “I’ll finish what your neighbor started you motherf—er,” Fox News reported.

The threat referenced an assault on Paul by his neighbor in 2017 that left him with five broken ribs. He was awarded nearly $600,000 in damages in 2019 stemming from the attack. The neighbor, Rene Boucher, was charged with assault and sentenced to 30 days in prison.

The conflict started when Paul was doing yard work. Boucher said he was angered by the senator repeatedly putting debris near his house.

Paul addressed the article about the package in a tweet, writing that he takes threats like this “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,” Paul wrote, slamming the social media platform.

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

Paul echoed a similar sentiment in a subsequent tweet, but did not call out the celebrities he referred to by name.

I have been targeted multiple times now, it is reprehensible that Twitter allows C-list celebrities to advocate for violence against me and my family! https://t.co/WhTtswUI91

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

“I take these threats immensely seriously,” Paul wrote in a statement obtained by Fox News. “I have been targeted multiple times now, it is reprehensible that Twitter allows C-list celebrities to advocated for violence against me and my family. This must stop. Just this weekend Richard Marx called for violence against me and now we receive this despicable powder filled letter.”

“I’ll say it again: If I ever meet Rand Paul’s neighbor I’m going to hug him and buy him as many drinks as he can consume,” Richard Marx, a singer and songwriter whose biggest hits were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, tweeted on Sunday.

I’ll say it again: If I ever meet Rand Paul’s neighbor I’m going to hug him and buy him as many drinks as he can consume.

— Richard Marx (@richardmarx) May 23, 2021

— Updated on May 25 at 7:31 a.m.

Tags Rand Paul Rand Paul suspicious package Twitter