Rand Paul: Police militarization, war on drugs is 'out of control'

By Ashley Killough, CNN

updated 8:39 AM EDT, Fri September 19, 2014

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, is openly weighing a presidential bid.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Alexandria, Virginia (CNN) -- Fresh off his Senate floor speech against arming Syrian rebels, Sen. Rand Paul shifted gears Thursday night to lambast the current state of police militarization in the United States, especially when it comes to the war on drugs.

The Kentucky Republican told a libertarian-leaning audience in Alexandria, Virginia that police sometimes direct their focus on the wrong crimes.

"You want your police to be aggressive," he said. "But if someone's got some pot, you want to break down the door at two in the morning with masks and gas and concussion grenades?"

Paul was speaking to the Liberty Political Action Conference, where moments before his speech he was on stage with his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, to deliver a scholarship award.

It was a rare dual appearance by the two, as Rand Paul, who's laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid, has attempted to differentiate himself from his father's legacy as a vocal libertarian. (Rand Paul, however, dutifully quoted his father at the end of his speech: "Freedom is popular. Bring it on.")

On militarization, Rand Paul said the public may never really know what happened to Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old shot dead by police in Ferguson, Missouri last month, and he didn't weigh in on the still unfolding controversy.

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Rand Paul: Police militarization, war on drugs is 'out of control'

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