Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that the $580,000 a Kentucky jury awarded him in a lawsuit he filed after his neighbor tackled him in late 2017 sends a message that violence won't be tolerated in the United States.
“To us, the court case wasn't really just about us, it was also about all of us in the sense that it's to send a signal that violence isn't the way we should resolve our differences,” the Kentucky Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
The neighbor, Rene Boucher, pleaded guilty in March 2018 to jumping Paul while he was mowing his lawn. The senator suffered several rib fractures and has undergone multiple treatments for pneumonia as a result.
Earlier this month, Paul traveled to Canada for surgery for a hernia he said was related to the attack. Even though Canada has a nationalized healthcare system, the Shouldice Hernia Hospital, where Paul had his procedure, is a private facility and he said he paid for his own medical costs.
Boucher said his attack wasn't politically motivated but was over brush that was piled on Paul's property in the upscale Bowling Green neighborhood.
“You get on the internet and the hatred is so awful out there, political differences, religious differences, and even day-to-day differences with the people who live around us," Paul said Thursday. "We’ve got to resolve these things peacefully."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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