On Monday night, Washington, D.C. resident Rahul Dubey gave refuge to some 60+ strangers last night during the protests.
He was on his Swann Street stoop at around 8:30 p.m. when protesters started gathering nearby. He began talking to them and allowed them to sit on his steps, charge their phones, and use his bathroom. He also let those that had been "pinned in" to escape through his house and out through his back alleyway. When he returned to his front door, by his account, there was a man who was "screaming" while "pushing and shoving" and pepper spraying. That prompted a "human tsunami" into his home as he flung the doors open.
Police were corralling the protesters and forcing them down the street with pepper spray.
We are trapped between 14th & 15th Streets on Swann St NW. Cops at both ends of the street even in the alleys. #dcprotest pic.twitter.com/xFHfaK3Rb4
— Ken Duffy (@KenDuffyNews) June 2, 2020
Dubey also told NBC Washington that police tried to enter his home a few times but that each time he spoke with them, saying the group was welcome in his residence.
"There was love there. In the mayhem of the darkness, minutes, hours after, there was love pouring out at 3 a.m. from people that should be sleeping, but they didn't. And that's what really is amazing," he told the TV station.
One of Dubey's neighbors, Becca Thimmesch, shared this:
Officers staked out outside Dubey's house for hours and were harassing him and the demonstrators inside, Thimmesch said.
"He kept coming out and saying, 'No, no I've invited these young people in,'" Thimmesch said, adding that police were "trying to invent exigent circumstances to enter the premises."
They shot mace at peaceful protesters is a residential neighborhood. The man who took us in is named Rahul Dubey. He gave us business cards in case they try to say we broke in. pic.twitter.com/gKzmrvCa75
— Meka (@MekaFromThe703) June 2, 2020
You can listen to Dubey's account here:
Here is some of my conversation with Rahul Dubey. The man who says he's sheltering protesters in his home on Swann St. in NW DC. He tells me why he opened his door —> @ABC7News @ABC7GMW pic.twitter.com/ohg6Hlw47u
— Kristen Powers (@ABC7Kristen) June 2, 2020
This is one protester's statement of what happened:
I'm at a house in DC after being pepper sprayed and knocked down by the police. There are about 100 of us in a house surrounded by cops. All the neighbors on this street opened their doors and are tending to protesters. The cops corralled us on this street and sprayed us down.
— Allison Lane (@allieblablah) June 2, 2020
On Tuesday morning, the protesters left after the curfew was over at 6 a.m. Dubey was cheered as spoke on his stoop:
Rahul Dubey, the man who welcomed protesters into his home, gets a round of appause from protesters and supporters @ABC7News @ABC7GMW pic.twitter.com/IDISrnPTcx
— Kristen Powers (@ABC7Kristen) June 2, 2020
screengrab via Kristin Powers/Twitter
