Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Friday at the historically black Bowie State University in Maryland that minority groups should be concerned about possibly languishing in the Guantánamo Bay detention camp without trial.

Paul, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, was speaking about criminal justice reform, giving a wide-ranging address focused on his efforts to roll back civil asset forfeitures and mandatory minimum sentences, and to restore voting rights and employment opportunities for ex-felons.

Paul has helped bring such issues into the mainstream, but sounded more like his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, during one point in the speech with a dire warning about the erosion of constitutional rights.



“We have something now in America called indefinite detention,” Paul said. “This means an American citizen could be indefinitely placed in prison and sent to Guantánamo Bay forever without trial.”

“Who should be afraid of this? Anybody think that you might want to be afraid if you’re Jewish?” he said.

“Have people ever seen any kind of animus towards the Jewish people? Anybody ever think there was any animus towards African-Americans in our country? Anybody ever think there’s been an animus towards any kind of minority in our country ought to be concerned about incarceration without a trial.”

