Rahul Dubey, the man who sheltered over 70 protesters in his Washington D.C. home Monday night told CBSN on Friday that his actions were purely “instinctual.” Others have called them heroic.
“It was unfathomable,” Dubey said of the police violence used against peaceful protesters right outside his front door. He called what he saw a “horrific use of force” against people who were out after the city’s curfew.
According to Dubey, police used batons, shields and pepper spray to push people back. He said people were being hit as they ran away.
The chaotic night began around 8:45, past curfew, when Dubey said he heard a loud bang about 30 yards from his stoop, followed by a stream of protesters trying to escape police. “Pounding of batons, cracking of shields, screaming, screeches that were – that I still remember, faces gnarled… police spraying people in the back of the heads,” he said, describing the scene.
Dubey opened his door to people, letting them fill up his home in the Logan Circle neighborhood.
“What ended up happening is the police pushed all the people past my stoop, and at that moment there was nothing left in that wake and I was able to shut the door, get everybody in that I needed to,” he said.
Once everyone was inside, he began helping attend to injuries amongst the protesters. “Coughing, couldn’t breathe, crying. It was a total nightmare of an hour and a half inside the house” he said.
