D.C. Residents Open Their Doors To Save Protesters From The Police
WASHINGTON ― Residents of Swann Street NW in the nation’s capital opened their homes to protesters who were trapped by law enforcement officers during a demonstration against police violence on Monday.
Not long after President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on riots and had federal law enforcement officials fire tear gas at peaceful crowds so he could hold a Bible during a photo op in front of a church, police kettled demonstrators on a D.C. street a few blocks south of 14th and U Street NW. This area was the center of the 1968 riots following the death of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Although there has been extensive looting and rioting in D.C. over the past few days, there was no evidence that any of the demonstrators who police swept up in a mass arrest Monday were involved.
HuffPost spoke with one protester who was caught in the kettle. She agreed to be named, but HuffPost has chosen to withhold her identity to avoid aiding police in her arrest or a potential case against her. The 22-year-old said that the protesters were peaceful before they walked into the trap.
“There weren’t even water bottles being thrown. It was all just chants,” she said. “The moment we made that right onto the street, they kind of started charging us.”
“You turn to the left, there’s another alley, cops are there. Then you turn to the right, there’s another alley, cops are there,” she said.
“So people just start knocking on doors,” she said. “We were fortunate enough to recognize some people, and we didn’t even know they lived on this block, and we were able to stay... Thank God, it was honestly fate.”
The protester said other demonstrators were “frantic” and “didn’t know what to do” when police trapped them.
At least two reporters were caught in the chaos. One said they were unjustifiably pepper-sprayed and later released when they identified themselves as a journalist; the other said they were able to escape through a backdoor after being let into someone’s home.
A reporter with The Washington Post identified one homeowner who aided protesters as Rahul Dubey, a 44-year-old Indian American and the owner of a healthcare innovations company.
He choked up talking about watching police beat people. “It was a human tsunami. I was hanging on my railing yelling, ‘Get in the house! Get in the house!’”
— Derek Hawkins (@D_Hawk) June 2, 2020
The arrests took place after the 7 p.m. curfew set by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). Prosecutions in the nation’s capital aren’t handled by a locally elected district attorney but by the Trump-controlled U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department is already preparing for a major crackdown on rioting. Federal prosecutors in D.C. have previously charged more than 200 Trump inauguration protesters who were caught in a police kettle with felony charges that exposed them to decades in prison.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Here are some tweets from the scene:
A live look from DC where my friend is telling me police have boxed them in and are refusing to let anyone leave. Despite numerous requests to leave or speak to someone they are being meant with total silence and made to stay atm. #DCPROTEST pic.twitter.com/Aqr6UJAvvP
— DJ Jake Maxwell (UltraPup) (@DJUltraPup) June 2, 2020
Tomorrow’s headline:
100+ riot police and military deployed to arrest uber dangerous protesters while they dance to Michael Jackson #DCPROTEST pic.twitter.com/ibALQ0SItj— Lindsay Apperson (@lmappers) June 2, 2020
Protesters chant “Let us leave! Let us leave!” Police have them trapped on 15th & Swann ST pic.twitter.com/PBB9jUM3SU
— Phillip Nieto (@nieto_phillip) June 2, 2020
Law enforcement used teargas to push protesters down Swann St. at the intersection of Swann and 15th NW.
I was also sprayed and shoved by officers despite identifying myself as a reporter.@dcexaminer pic.twitter.com/SXfiEpSSeh— Mike Brest (@MikeBrestDC) June 2, 2020
NEW: “We weren’t doing anything violent, they pepper sprayed us right up to the doorway.” Just talked to a nurse, one of about SIXTY people taken in by the owner of a house on Swann St NW, after they were blocked in by police pursuing/arresting curfew violators @nbcwashington
— Jackie Bensen (@jackiebensen) June 2, 2020
It’s not clear there is any good way for this to end. Protesters are totally boxed in with nowhere to go. pic.twitter.com/1mxnbWVdgt
— Stephanie Mencimer (@smencimer) June 2, 2020
I am safe. Hunkered down in someone’s home in NW DC for a couple of hours with no real safe way to leave until now. Slipped out the back door and into an alley. #dcprotest
— Ken Duffy (@KenDuffyNews) June 2, 2020
Protesters zip tied and waiting to be loaded into police vans to be taken to jail #dcprotest #swannstreet. Police are still trying to coax many out of houses on the street. pic.twitter.com/n6hfQn2Jt7
— Jay Newton-Small (@JNSmall) June 2, 2020
NEW: “We weren’t doing anything violent, they pepper sprayed us right up to the doorway.” Just talked to a nurse, one of about SIXTY people taken in by the owner of a house on Swann St NW, after they were blocked in by police pursuing/arresting curfew violators @nbcwashington
— Jackie Bensen (@jackiebensen) June 2, 2020
another neighbor just opened their door and let protestors run in, Police followed them in pic.twitter.com/01StC2m8Sa
— Meka (@MekaFromThe703) June 2, 2020
DC, tonight MPD cops under the authority of @ChiefNewsham and @MayorBowser unleashed tear gas into a private home that took in dozens of protesters after they were cornered off for arrests in a neighborhood.
This is an absolutely disgusting abuse of power by @DCPoliceDept. pic.twitter.com/Rq7nYLiGNT— Alex Taliadoros (@AlexCTaliadoros) June 2, 2020
Looks like I’m here until 6 am. The cops are in the alley catching people who hop the fence to leave the private property. Helicopters are everywhere. This is insane.
— Allison Lane (@allieblablah) June 2, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.