Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@briochesf
Topics: News
Emma Guinness
An art gallery owner has sparked mass outrage after he blasted a homeless woman with water in a bid to get her to move out of his way while cleaning the sidewalk.
Collier Gwin, the owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery in San Francisco, admitted to dousing the woman with a hose outside his gallery on Monday (9 January), but he has refused to apologise.
The owner said the woman littered the sidewalk with her belongings and was behaving erratically in the lead-up to the incident that has shocked social media. Watch the shocking incident below:
Advert
Gwin claims he only resorted to using the water when the woman turned over rubbish bins outside his business and refused to leave.
He told the told the San Francisco Chronicle: "I said you have to move; I cannot clean the street; move down. She starts screaming belligerent things, spitting, yelling at me... At that point she was so out of control."
The art gallery owner, who said he was a 'champion' for how he treated the woman, explained that he let her sleep in the area without complaint for a number of days.
He also said that he tried to get her help by contacting the police and social services, but it was to no avail.
"You know, spraying her's not the solution, but spraying her was something that woke her up, and that calmed her down," he said.
"So am I sorry? I'm only sorry that... my way of helping her countlessly has gotten nothing done."
However, Edson Garcia, the head chef at bakery Brioche S.F, disputes Gwin's claims that the woman was not compliant.
The chef, who originally filmed and posted the footage, said that he has asked the woman to move on a number of occasions and she has always done it.
"It was cold and raining. She was screaming saying 'ok I'll move I'll move!' It's not fair to see people doing stuff like that," he told ABC7 News.
Following the first viral video, a second was later posted by Twitter user Darren Mckeeman with the caption: "I just went down and confronted him during an interview with the chronicle."
In the video, Gwin can be seen saying: "I've been here for forty years and we've had tons of homeless, but they haven't been in a situation where they get that violent with ten days of the neighbourhood trying to do something."
The footage resulted in total outrage when Garcia shared it to Twitter, with one viewer saying: "What a disgusting man. I would be boycotting that business. We all live in a community. Everyone deserves respect and support."
A second concurred, adding: "What a disgusting way to treat someone who clearly is in need! He may have the luxury of owning his gallery but he does not own the sidewalk."
However, a third viewer took a more balanced view of the situation.
They wrote: "The homeless woman needs help and the man deserves to have his business not ruined by homeless loitering.
"Both of them have been let down by the government."
The art gallery has since been hit with a slew of bad reviews that have seen its average rating fall to just 1.1 stars.
Tyla has reached out to Foster Gwin Gallery for comment.