D.C. Police Arrest Orlando Man for Attacking Police Officer Near Rand Paul

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia has arrested an Orlando, Florida, man who allegedly assaulted a police officer near Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) as the lawmaker and his wife were mobbed by protesters after leaving President Donald Trump’s Republican National Committee acceptance speech at the White House.

FOX 5 reports:

According to the Department of Justice, Brennen Sermon, 27, of Orlando, was arraigned in D.C. Superior Court on one count of assault on a law-enforcement officer. He was released on his own recognizance. Investigators say that, around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 28, a D.C. officer was holding a police line at 14th and F Street, Northwest when Sermon kicked his bicycle and ran away. When the officer chased him, Sermon allegedly punched him in the face. […]

If Sermon is convicted, he could face up to 180 days in prison for each count. He could also face a fine of up to $1,000.

In a Friday interview with the Fox News Channel, Paul and his wife, Kelley Paul, recounted the fear they experienced at the hands of the mob.

“It was absolutely terrifying,” Ms. Paul said. “I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I hope no one else ever has to. We felt completely powerless. Before some of the video, that I think you have shown, where the police with the bikes were kind of creating a moving barricade for us. In the minutes before the police with the bikes showed up, we were completely encircled and surrounded, pressed up against two cops who — we were surrounded by people who were screaming in our faces, yelling that they were going to F us up, screaming, ‘Say her name.’”

To date, Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, nor his running-mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), have condemned the incident.

On Wednesday, ranking Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and James Comer (KY) respectively, opened an investigation into ongoing unrest in Washington, D.C., requesting Mayor Muriel Bowser turn over documents regarding her administration’s response to protests and riots, as first reported by Newsweek.

“Like other Democrat-run cities, the District of Columbia (D.C.) under your leadership has allowed radical left-wing violent extremists to commit senseless acts of violence and destruction,” Jordan and Comer’s letter to Bowser reads. “By your inaction in response to their mayhem, these left-wing agitators have become emboldened to be even more aggressive and more dangerous.”