Rahul saved lives last night. He ended this with an inspirational speech about not giving up and keeping up the peaceful fight. What a guy. Thank you Rahul. #SwannStreet #savejenny pic.twitter.com/e0SETLcSpw

— BLACKLIVESMATTER (@kikivonfreaki) June 2, 2020

A man in a DC neighborhood where protesters were forced by police following Trump’s speech invited over 70 of them, mostly young people, into his home to avoid being teargassed and arrested. Rahul Dubey got them pizza, let everyone charge their phones and sleep overnight until the curfew was over at 6am the next morning. He wasn’t the only one in that neighborhood who sheltered the protesters – several of his neighbors did too, they just declined to be interviewed on camera. Cops went to extraordinary lengths to try to trick and lure them out. DC police accused the protesters of breaking into his home, he said they did not. They shot pepper spray into his windows. They faked a 911 call. They detained the pizza delivery guy for over an hour so Rahul called in a personal favor with another pizza place and had them deliver the food covertly over the back fence. Esquire Magazine called Rahul around 2:30 am and reported this interview with him in the first person.

When the police line had finally passed my house, that’s when the bodies stopped pouring in and I was able to shut the door and lock it. People were pouring milk on their faces, and water was being flung around. I went downstairs to get water for people. People were coughing. I had pepper spray in my eyes. They were shooting pepper spray in through the window. That was mayhem for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and then as soon as I stepped onto the front porch, [the police] said, “Get back in the house, or we’ll put you down,” and I said, “Look, I got a bunch of people in here.” They said, “Get the fuck back inside.” I waited about an hour, and I went back out and said, “I request to talk to somebody,” and they said, “We told you to get back. Get back or we’ll fucking arrest you,” so I went back in the house.

I looked around and saw kids from age 20 to 50 in the house scattered on all three floors and the backyard, and they were safe. They were active. They were asking questions. They were solving problems in little groups, and they are hunkered down here until 6 am. The police have tried to pull them out through trickery like five or six times. They send decoys to the door, telling them they can’t leave out the front, but if they leave out the back alley, they’ll be safe. I mean, bullshit stuff. They just hijacked the pizza delivery guy for an hour and wouldn’t let us come through. I mean, they faked a 911 call and said “yeah, someone called 911,” but no one did. There’s a lot of emotions.

I have a 13-year-old son, and luckily he’s with friends and family up in Delaware; he’s coming back tomorrow. He’s not there, but at the same time, I wish he was because he could see these amazing souls that are in my house are safe and they had every right to be doing what they were doing, and the police didn’t have a right to just beat them down on the street. For now, at least for the next four hours or so, we’re going to be safe here. I’ve never been so excited to get a Ducinni’s pizza in my life.

I couldn’t leave it to chance. I called the owner and was like, “Brother, I’ve been ordering from you forever. I need you to do me a favor. We are held hostage,” and he was like, “We got you man.” It’s like a covert mission to get Duccini’s pizza! I’m delirious, but it’s beautiful. It’s absurd that I had to get some stranger to hand me pizza over my back fence through police brigade, but it also shows the human spirit, too, and that’s what this is all about.

There’s about 75 people in my house. Some have got couch space. There’s a family, a mother and daughter here, that I gave my son’s room to so they get some peace and quiet. Yeah, even the ledges of the bathtub, and no one’s bitching. They’re happy—no, they’re not happy. They’re safe. They’re cheering. They’re backing each other.

[From Esquire]

Later in the piece, he said that this is the America he loves, the America he was seeing in his living room, which was like a “Coca-Cola commercial.” The Washingtonian has another interview with Rahul, conducted the next day, and I loved reading that too! He described some of the conversations he had with people and said that he was getting text messages telling him that they were ok. He said, of the inquiries he’s been getting, “It’s just shocking that the first question people are asking me is ‘Why did you let strangers into your home?’ I know in my heart of hearts that you would open the door, too. I hope so. Otherwise, what are we doing?” When I was younger I did a lot of protesting in NY and DC ahead of the Iraq war. Everyone was wonderful and there was such a sense of togetherness and solidarity. I got that from Rahul’s interview, and from the tweets I’ve been seeing from people who had the absolute bravery to stand in the streets against tyranny. Thank you Rahul, thank you to all the protesters and thank you to all the helpers.

"I hope that my 13-year-old son grows up to be just as amazing as they are."

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

— ABC 7 News – WJLA (@ABC7News) June 2, 2020

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

— suckmyunicorn (@suckmyunicornD) June 2, 2020

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

The military is using black hawk helicopters to dispersd in DC right now flying lower than building height of 12 stories pic.twitter.com/RMa9LIh8t4

— Anna (@anabananaaaah) June 2, 2020