WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after Sen. Rand Paul objected to legislation that would make the brutal act of lynching a federal hate crime, the Kentucky Republican signed on as a co-sponsor of a revised version that is now set to become law.
Paul celebrated passage of the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which the Senate cleared by unanimous consent Monday. But it was he who held up the bill in the spring of 2020, leading to a tense rhetorical exchange with two Black Democrats, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and then-Sen. Kamala Harris of California, about the scope of their proposal.
Now Booker is hailing Paul for his work on amending the bill to create “the bipartisan backing that we have to finally meet this moment and help our nation move forward from some of its darkest chapters.”
