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Rand Paul: All Americans — including those arrested in the Jan. 6 riots — deserve due process

February 10, 2022 | | Print Article

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Senator Rand Paul is calling out his Democrat colleagues over their unwillingness to support the right to due process for those who have been held in confinement in a special D.C. facility for their presence at last year’s infamous protest at the U.S. Capitol.

In an op-ed published by Fox News, the Kentucky Republican makes a case that the January 6, 2021 political prisoners who have been confined under deplorable conditions are being treated differently largely because they are supporters of former President Donald J. Trump.

Prior to naming names, Paul invoked the Sixth Amendment, “The right to due process, enshrined in the Constitution, includes the right to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers. Those denied bail or unable to afford it can often be incarcerated for months awaiting trial, during which time they often lose their jobs, face eviction, and have their lives spiral downward — all before ever being convicted of a crime.”

Paul brought up the example of 16-year-old black teenager Kalief Browder who was held under abusive conditions at Riker’s Island for three years without trial and when he was ultimately released, the trauma that he suffered behind the walls drove him to commit suicide.

The lawmaker noted that Browder’s case drew the support of Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris who joined him and other civil libertarians in calling for reforms to “insist that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a speedy trial apply to everyone, regardless of the color of your skin or your socioeconomic status.”

“I would add today that the Sixth Amendment should apply regardless of your political persuasion,” Paul wrote, “It is disappointing that progressives today will not apply the same equal justice under the law to the people accused of entering the U.S. Capitol illegally on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Senator Paul reminded readers of Harris’ call for donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to swiftly bail out rioters and looters who were involved in the mayhem that erupted after the unfortunate death of George Floyd that “resulted in at least 25 deaths, thousands of injured police, and nearly $2 billion in damage to our cities.”

Paul turned up the heat: “Yet we have heard nothing from Vice President Harris on the Jan. 6 detainees held for nearly a year without trial, some of whom have not been charged with any acts of violence against persons,” he wrote. “Indeed, the sentences for the charges many face would likely fall short of the months they have already been jailed without conviction of a crime. Many have been held for long periods in solitary confinement.”

Harris punctuated her colossal hypocrisy over due process with an exclamation point last month when Democrats along with Liz and Dick Cheney gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the so-called “insurrection” that has allowed Democrats to define their political adversaries as domestic terrorists when the deeply unpopular veep likened the day’s events to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.

Paul also dragged Democrat Cory Booker for his double standards on due process as it applies to the January 6 protesters.

“I worked with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., to legislatively end solitary confinement for juveniles. I applauded President Obama when he stepped in to stop this cruelty. It disturbs me that the outrage from the left seems to be selective,” he wrote. “Where is the ACLU when it comes to the prolonged and inhumane solitary detentions of people accused of crimes on Jan. 6, especially for those who are accused of no violence?”

Booker had previously teamed up with Paul in a push for justice reform but when it comes to Trump supporters, there is a glaring double standard with Democrats.

Paul wrote, “Their hypocrisy indicates that either they hate these people so much that they now refuse to acknowledge the injustice of prolonged incarceration without trial, or they simply don’t care because these citizens are supporters of Donald Trump. Many on the right also sit silently in fear of being accused of supporting violence.”

“I condemned all violent acts on Jan. 6 and continue to do so. But that does not mean we should destroy the lives of non-violent protesters by deliberately conflating them with the acts of others, denying them bail, and incarcerating them for nearly a year with no trial,” he added. “That is not justice. Our laws demand that even those accused of the most horrific crimes of mass murder are guaranteed due process. To abandon those principles for political purposes is to abandon the very bedrock of American jurisprudence.”

With their actions over the last two years when it comes to Trump, the Capitol protests and COVID authoritarianism it should be clear to any who are paying attention that Democrats are willing and eager to ignore the Constitution when it comes to preserving their own power and they will continue to do so using any means necessary.

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Chris Donaldson
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