Rand Paul in Baltimore: Kalief Browder shows why urban communities are angry

[Inkblots]

It was a familiar story, a regular part of his stump speech, but Rand Paul paused before he told it.

"I've been telling this story for about a year and a half, two years now," the Kentucky senator and presidential candidate told Baltimore County Republicans, who had filled a reception hall west of the city. "It makes me sad. I thought about not telling the story again. But I think this young man's memory should help us to try to change things. He died this weekend. He committed suicide. His name was Kalief Browder. He was a 16-year-old teenager from the Bronx. He was arrested, accused of a crime, and sent to Rikers."

As hundreds of Republicans listened—voters, donors, elected officials—Paul retold the Browder story that had become infamous after a profile in the New Yorker. It was more gruesome than the version he usually told, because he was building to something.

"Are we going to let you be raped and murdered and pillaged before you've been convicted?" Paul asked. "He wasn't even convicted! So when I see people angry and upset, I'm not here to excuse violence in the cities, but I see people angry I see where some of the anger is coming from."

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-10/rand-paul-on-kalief-browder-it-makes-me-sad-

[65fastback2+2]

very good article

[RabbitMan]

Is David Wiegel HuffPost's imbedded reporter for Rand's campaign? I feel like I see an article from him every few days.

[Warlord]

Is David Wiegel HuffPost's imbedded reporter for Rand's campaign? I feel like I see an article from him every few days.

Bloomberg;s and yes he seems to follow Rand around

[hells_unicorn]

I took note that Wiegel just had to mention Rand Paul's interview with Laura Ingram, just to keep Paul from looking too good here. I'm getting tired of this clandestine, snake-in-the-grass tactics masked with passive/aggressive rubbish.

[RandallFan]

Most of these black activists would support the death penalty for the frat boys in Oklahoma, Mark Fuhrman, Kramer and others. It is a race issue to them.


We don't know if Kalief was telling the truth. There is a backlog of cases in New York because the war on drugs is a waste of money(not because the War on Drugs is a politically expedient thing for Rand Paul to pander to blacks on), as well as huge amount of violent minority crime in New York.

[Occam's Banana]

Most of these black activists would support the death penalty for the frat boys in Oklahoma, Mark Fuhrman, Kramer and others. It is a race issue to them.

We don't know if Kalief was telling the truth. [...]

Telling the truth about what?

FACT: He was imprisoned at Rikers Island for three years without trial or conviction.

I don't care if he was a serial ax-murderer - that is completely fucked up, no matter how you slice it.

And what "most of these black activists" would or wouldn't support doesn't change that ...