Most of the Senate floor cleared Sunday night as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, stood up to denounce the Patriot Act and the proposed USA Freedom Act. But I witnessed Paul’s supporters filling a good portion of the public gallery, so the senator was not speaking to just the nearly empty floor.
They were the same group that was supporting Paul on the Capitol steps and had watched his filibuster the week before. These supporters belong to a Facebook group called District of Columbia for Rand Paul. The group claims more than 50 members, and its affiliated page has over 700 likes.
Brittany Wilson, one of the group’s founders, rallied supporters to attend the May 31 special Senate meeting. Though the group did not take an official headcount, reports — and my eyes — suggested that as many as 70 Paul supporters attended. Wilson was pleased as supporters arrived from states as far away as New York and North Carolina.
Wilson told supporters to remain quiet during the meeting, and they refrained from yelling out when Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, attempted to stop Paul’s speech. They did not even laugh when a ringtone playing Frozen’s “Let It Go” (from the cell phone of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS) ironically interrupted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who motioned to debate the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would curtail the most controversial surveillance programs. But they showed their support by wearing red and black Paul t-shirts.
“As far as an effort goes, it was peaceful. There were no problems,” Wilson told the Examiner, the next day. “As far as the vote goes, the Patriot Act [provisions] expired, and I think that is something [the group] can all say was a victory.”
Wilson and a few others had attended the meeting in which Paul filibustered the Patriot Act, anticipating another on Sunday. Although the senator did not filibuster again, his supporters, according to Wilson, “were really impressed by what Rand Paul had to say.”
Wilson agrees with Paul that even if the National Security Agency is not listening to people’s calls, it’s a “crime” for NSA even to have their data. The group shares Paul’s concerns over the USA Freedom Act.
Looking ahead, Wilson believes Paul’s stance on civil liberties could give him an advantage over other presidential candidates. “Privacy is always a relevant issue. I don’t think it’s going to go away,” Wilson said.
As for Paul supporters filling the Senate gallery again, she told the Examiner, “Coming closer to 2016, this is something that we can expect [to happen] a lot more.”
The Senate voted 77-17 to debate the USA Freedom Act, so clearly the majority of senators disagreed with Paul. Yet Paul is hardly alone in his fight — he has an army of grassroots supporters behind him on privacy rights.
