A luxury art gallery owner in San Francisco has been met with scorn after a viral video of him spraying a homeless woman with a water hose.
Collier Gwynn, owner of the Foster Gwynn Gallery in California’s upscale Jackson Square neighborhood, admitted to hosing a woman off the sidewalk on Monday. new york post report.
However, the gallery owner claimed the entire community had let her down.
“The whole neighborhood is part of this situation,” Gwynn told NBC Bay Area News.
“Police are part of this situation. Cities and social services are part of the situation. There have been repeated attempts to help this woman with mental illness,” he continued.
“There’s absolutely nothing they can do. They’ll take her to a shelter and kick her out in two days. They’ll take her to the hospital and release her within a day.”
But the video, which was first posted on TikTok and garnered thousands of views before being widely shared on Twitter, has sparked the ire of online critics.
“No matter how frustrating someone is, I don’t care. This is not how humans treat other humans,” said Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Oversight Board for the district that includes the gallery. I told Chronicle.
“That’s not conscientious,” he said. “It’s abuse.”
Others on social media were also outraged.
“If housing is a human right, isn’t discrimination and violence against people in housing a violation of human rights?” Twitter user Brittni wrote.
“Collier Gwynn is a vigilante and should be charged with assault unless the city tolerates this and wants to see similar behavior,” she said.
Footage shows Gwyn spraying a woman, later identified as “Cola”, while screaming.
“Can you move?” I hear Gwyn yell. “Move.”
Edson Galvez, who posted the video online, said he was stunned by NBC.
“I started recording the guy. This guy is like watering a plant,” he said. “And I look at a woman like this and I’m like, ‘Oh no! She’s a woman.
“Okay, that woman isn’t in business,” said Galvez, co-owner of nearby Brioche Cafe.
“She’s sleeping on the street, but she’s very calm. I had a quarter on the parking meter now, and she was passing by.
Still, Galvez admitted he can “understand both parties.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Tenant, but once the police came out, he said there was nothing they could do,” a local said.
Police reportedly responded to the scene after the incident, but Gwynn did not respond, according to NBC reports.
this The story originally appeared in new york postReprinted with permission.