U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a man after he was accused of threatening to kill Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and his family with an ax.
Paul spoke about the threat on Monday at a Rotary Club event in Grayson County, Kentucky, The Hill reported.
"The Capitol Hill police issued an arrest warrant for this man who threatened to kill me and chop up my family with an ax," Paul said. "It’s just horrendous that we have to deal with things like this."
The man is accused of calling in the threats to Paul’s Bowling Green office, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. The Republican senator later confirmed the arrest in a tweet Monday afternoon, saying "thank you to the US Capitol Police for their arrest of the man who recently threatened to kill my family and me."
Thank you to the US Capitol Police for their arrest of the man who recently threatened to kill my family and me.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 2, 2018
This latest threat is just one of several threatening incidents Paul has experienced recently. Paul was attacked by a neighbor last November over a landscaping dispute.
Fifty-nine-year-old Rene Boucher tackled and injured Paul at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after the senator continued to stack brush along the property line. Boucher claimed he "lost his temper" and "had enough" of seeing the growing pile of tree clippings. Paul was mowing the lawn at the time of the scuffle when Boucher charged and attacked him. Paul suffered six broken ribs and was briefly sidelined from Congress during his recovery. The pair had a long-standing disagreement over landscaping responsibilities between their properties.
Paul also participated in the congressional baseball practice June 14, 2017 when James Hodgkinson opened fire on the Republican team and badly injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. (R., La.). Paul was uninjured.
"It’s been a year where we’re becoming more and more aware of these threats," Paul said on Monday.