OPENING HIS HOME TO PROTESTORS
It’s always a good idea to be prepared for guests. You never know when a friend or acquaintance may surprise you with a visit. But how many of us are ready to accommodate more than 70 people for an unexpected overnight stay?
That’s exactly what Rahul Dubey, a healthcare entrepreneur in Washington, D.C., did on the night of June 1 after protestors took to the streets to rally against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
When police began firing pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors who had violated the 7 p.m. curfew, many of them took refuge in the homes of sympathetic residents.
Dubey opened the doors of his three-story rowhouse on Swan Street to more than 70 protestors after witnessing the scene on the street.
The protestors gave each other medical attention, including splashing milk into their eyes to reduce the burning sensation from the pepper spray. Dubey found various spots around his home for them to rest, allowing them to stay until the curfew ended at 6 a.m.
“After that first hour and a half of pure brutality and terror was something beautiful: neighbors started coming in and dropping off food, leaving notes,” he told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “Lawyers were calling in and offering up advice; a local pizza place helped me to get pizza through a secret alleyway, which is unbelievable that we all kind of came on board when the police were trying to bait us to come outside so they could arrest the 70-plus people.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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