They didn't just laugh at him, they started tracking is supporters and monitoring them for activity.
Ya'll don't remember that?
https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2012-09-12/ron-paul-a-domestic-terrorist/
At best, so-called "fusion centers," law enforcement intelligence gathering operations, can enhance public safety. At worst, they pose a threat to privacy, religious freedom and free speech – and in some places that's exactly what's happening, according to a new report released this week.
Fusion centers were created in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to "detect and defend" against potential terrorist threats. The centers work as information-sharing hubs that "facilitate the exchange of critical information among federal and state law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and sometimes even military officials and private sector entities," reads the new report,