Protesters hole up in Washington D.C. home of Indian-American Rahul Dubey overnight

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WASHINGTON – Dozens of protesters left a home in Northwest Washington early Tuesday as the city’s curfew lifted at 6 a.m. The homeowner had taken them in after they fled law enforcement officers firing chemicals at them hours earlier.

The protesters cheered this morning as homeowner Rahul Dubey, 44, emerged from his rowhouse.

On Monday evening as the 7 p.m. curfew started, Dubey saw a large group of protesters coming down his one-way street – Swann Street, about two blocks south of U Street. He opened his door and allowed them to stay.

He choked up Monday as he said he saw protesters injured in clashes with police.

“It was a human tsunami,” he said. “I was hanging on my railing yelling, ‘Get in the house! Get in the house!’ ”

He said a “crowd came racing through like a tornado” and he “flung the door open and let them inside.” He added: “I opened a door. You would have done the same thing.”

One person inside the home said they took injured protesters to the basement and used milk to wash out people’s eyes. When they ran out of milk, neighbors passed jugs of milk over the fence.

On social media, protester Allison Lane said there were about 100 people inside the house at one point. She said many were “chased” from the White House with flash bangs into the neighborhood.

On Tuesday morning, as Dubey and dozens of protesters came outside the house, they were greeted by supporters and neighbors. Dubey told a local TV station that it was an “amazing group of people” in his home. He said protesters left when the curfew ended at 6 a.m.”They were doing nothing wrong other than to build a future that they want and that I want,” Dubey said.