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A San Francisco art gallery owner who was caught on camera spraying a homeless woman with a hose has defended his actions.
In images shared on social media, Collier Gwin, who runs the Foster Gwin Gallery in the Financial District, leans against a restaurant door and continues to spray the woman, despite her screaming in discomfort.
Local businesses were quick to condemn his actions, while dozens of angry social media users left terrible reviews online, causing the gallery’s rating on Google to drop to a single star.
Speaking about the incident, which took place on Monday, Gwin said: “I’ve been here for 40 years. We have tons of homeless people. [people]. But they haven’t been in a situation where they get that violent. [within] 10 days in the neighborhood trying to do something. We have managed to get them to take them to a shelter, from which they leave immediately”.
Pictured: Collier Gwin, who runs the Foster Gwin Gallery in the Financial District
Collier Gwin was seen in a now-viral video spraying a homeless woman in San Francisco with a hose. The incident happened Monday when the weather reached a low of 49 degrees.
The reporter who filmed the video said, “I heard her talk to people and say, ‘No, this is the way I want to live. My idea of clean is not your idea of clean.’
Gwin replied, “That’s fine, as long as you know what you’re saying.”
After admitting to being the man in the hose video, Gwin also tried to defend his actions yesterday, claiming the woman had gone psychotic and was overturning trash cans.
“I said you have to move, I can’t clean the street, move down,” Gwin told The San Francisco Chronicle. ‘She starts yelling horrible things, spitting, yelling at me… at that point she was so out of control… I spray her with the hose and tell her move, move. I’ll help you.’ He added that he is a ‘champ’ for trying to help her before.
The Brioche Cafe chef, who captured the video, said he saw the scene unfold while making an early morning delivery around 6 a.m.
“I was surprised,” Edson Garcia told The Chronicle. I know that lady.
Gwin insisted that he doesn’t regret his actions and that he was trying to ‘help’ her. He said the woman had been staying in front of her gallery for days.
Since then, the video has amassed millions of views. But despite the widespread backlash, Gwin stuck to his actions.
“You know, spraying her isn’t the solution, but spraying her was something that woke her up and calmed her down,” Gwin said. ‘So I’m sorry? I’m only sorry that… my way of helping her countlessly hasn’t achieved anything.’
Gwin added that before the incident he allowed her to stay on the sidewalk for days and tried to call the police and other government services to get their help.
His art gallery has been in business since 1984 and has attracted A-list clients such as Schwarzenegger, according to SocketSite.
DailyMail.com reached out to Gwin for comment but was not immediately available. And now it appears that the company’s social media pages have been shut down.
The gallery shares a wall with a restaurant called the Barbarossa Lounge, which is where Gwin is seen leaning against a door in the video.
The gallery shares a wall with a restaurant called the Barbarossa Lounge, which is where Gwin is seen leaning against a door in the video. Gwin is not associated with the restaurant.
Internet detectives seeking to identify the perpetrator initially assumed that Gwin was associated with the restaurant. But the owner, Arash Ghanadan, discredited the claim when mountains of hate mail poured in.
“Barbarossa Lounge has become aware of a video that started circulating on social media, which was filmed outside our small business,” Ghanadan told DailyMail.com.
We are extremely disappointed in this individual’s behavior and do not in any way support such actions. We have been informed that further formal and media investigations are underway.”
Ghanadan added: ‘It’s been a difficult time for our business in the last three years with a pandemic. We barely survived that and now our reputation is being ruined by a video that everyone falsely assumes relates to our business.”
Rows of homeless tents are seen near San Francisco City Hall outside residential properties and small business premises earlier this year.
Nearly 8,000 homeless people were reported in the city in February
The video comes amid a growing homelessness crisis in the city. The number of homeless people in San Francisco was counted in February at nearly 8,000, the second-highest number of any year since 2005, according to the official government count that is done every three years.
Business owners in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood have threatened to stop paying taxes if politicians don’t start clearing the streets of litter and stopping people from openly using drugs.
In a letter to city officials in August, the Castro Merchants Association said some of the homeless people on the streets in front of their stores had been harassing customers and needed help.
“They need shelter and/or services and they need them immediately,” the Traders Association said.
‘Our community is struggling to recover from lost business income, theft and endless vandalism/graffiti (often by homeless people) and we implore you to take action.’