Indian-American 'Hero' Sheltered 70 Protesters In His US Home So They Could Avoid Arrest
In a heartwarming gesture, an Indian American man named Rahul Dubey provided shelter to nearly 70 strangers who were stuck amid the curfew imposed by the police in Washington DC. Dubey went out of his way to make sleeping arrangements, food and helped the protesters charge their phones in his house.
Amid growing outrage and protests against the custodial death of George Floyd, an Indian man emerged as a hero after he reportedly sheltered 70 protesters at his Washington, D.C. home so they wouldn't be arrested.
Twitter/ABC
A group of protesters were boxed up down a narrow lane by the police at Swann Street in Washington D.C., when Rahul Dubey opened his home for them to spend the night till the curfew ended.
There were protesters out after Washington¡¯s 7 p.m. curfew and about to be arrested when Dubey frantically waved them into his house.
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
¡ª Kristen Powers (@ABC7Kristen) June 2, 2020
The screaming protesters hit by pepper spray sought relief for their eyes with milk and water that Dubey provided.
Rahul Dubey accommodated a large number of people in his house with some adjusting on the couch, some finding space in the rooms, while some were gratified to get rest even on the ledges of the bathtub.
A Twitter user shared the following video.
This is Rahul. Rahul saved 62 DC protesters who were trapped for hours on his block by police. He allowed them to stay all night, fed them, gave them water, charged their phones, and most importantly kept them safe. This was no party, the police through pepper spray canisters pic.twitter.com/ZDpNkfXsoa
¡ª suckmyunicorn (@suckmyunicornD) June 2, 2020
Dubey gave all of them his business card so the police wouldn't suspect them of having broken into his home. The protester who posted the video above asked him the reason behind his gesture and also asked him questions about the cops treated him a day before.
Dubey in the video is heard saying, "They shot tear gas through the window and held me up against the wall for 15 seconds. They let go because I was not black."
The day after the Monday protests, Dubey appeared in major news media outlets and was hailed as a saviour as those who took shelter in his house started tweeting about it.
"Rahul saved lives last night," one Black Lives Matter activist wrote on Twitter. "He ended this with an inspirational speech about not giving up and keeping up the peaceful fight. What a guy. Thank you Rahul."
¡°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 neighbours on this street opened their doors and are tending to protestors. The cops corralled us on this street and sprayed us down,¡± Allison Lane, one of the protestors, tweeted.
In an interview to ABC News affiliate WJLA, Dubey said that it was about 8:30 p.m. that he was sitting outside and saw police set up a brigade on 15 St. and Swann St. that turned into a holding area. People started sitting on his porch and asked if they could charge their phone and use his bathroom, he told the news channel. The protestors left his home after the curfew ended 6 am Tuesday.
"I hope that my 13-year-old son grows up to be just as amazing as they are."
¡ª ABC 7 News - WJLA (@ABC7News) June 2, 2020
Rahul Dubey opened his home to nearly 70 strangers overnight and sheltered them during D.C.'s curfew. He says our country needs people like THEM.
FULL INTERVIEW: https://t.co/hucxiraHk9 pic.twitter.com/BKFMsTsSgk
¡°I don't think there was even a choice in what I did, to be honest. The crowd just came racing through like a tornado... We had to keep the door open and just kept grabbing people and pulling them in. It's the same that you would if it''s a storm, and you would have let anyone into your home, I know that," he told NBC News.
Another protestor, identified as Meka, told BuzzFeed that he along with dozens of other protesters, ran into the home of Dubey on Swan Street and spent more than eight hours inside his house to avoid being arrested by Metropolitan Police Department officers.
update: pic.twitter.com/2qZ3edSIdk
¡ª Meka (@MekaFromThe703) June 2, 2020
Dubey told BuzzFeed that it wasn't a choice to open his door and provide refuge to the mostly young protesters.
¡°If you had seen what was going on in front of my eyes, there was no choice. People were getting pepper-sprayed and beaten and slammed to the ground,¡± he told the media outlet. "I hope that my 13-year-old son grows up to be just as amazing as they are," Dubey was quoted as saying by WJLA.
I found this very inspiring, Rahul Dubey of DC who sheltered ~50 protestors on #SwannStreet last night, after emerging, gave this interview to @WUSA9 and @slazo88
¡ª Ian Glenn (@IanBGlenn) June 2, 2020
¡°Our flag is hanging by a string¡±#2020Protests #savejenny #1stAmendment #compassion pic.twitter.com/S5uVzgrrQe
In Washington DC, the national capital, protestors burnt a historic church and damaged some of the prime properties like Lincoln Memorial.
Protestors continued with their demonstrations across cities in the US, in civic-disobeyance of the curfew that has been imposed in more than 150 cities across the US.
