San Francisco gallery owner arrested for pouring water on homeless woman

Police arrested the owner of an art gallery in San Francisco (California) after he poured water on a homeless woman. Writes about it CNN.

Photo: IStock

Police have issued an arrest warrant for gallery owner Shannon Collier Gwyn, charging him with a misdemeanor "for alleged willful and unlawful spraying of water on and around a homeless woman," District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said.

According to police, 71-year-old Gwin was arrested on January 18 in the afternoon near his gallery and sent to the San Francisco County Jail.

The arrest is related to his actions on January 9, filmed. Gwyn leaned casually against the fence and sprayed water from a garden hose on a woman named Q. San Francisco police said law enforcement officers arrived at the scene because of allegations of a possible attack and questioned both people. As a result, both sides refused further police action.

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The people, angry at the treatment of the homeless woman, retaliated by vandalizing the offender's shop, authorities said.

“An attack on a homeless member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions,” Jenkins tweeted. “Similarly, vandalism at the Foster Gwyn Gallery is completely unacceptable and must be stopped.”

The confrontation comes as San Francisco, like other cities with high housing costs, is struggling to cope with rising homelessness and the sense of turmoil that growth can cause. According to city estimates for 2022, about 4400 people are homeless and therefore live on the streets of San Francisco, and 3400 live in shelters.

Gwyn said the homeless woman who lives regularly in the area refused to leave the place and resisted his help in moving her belongings. He assured that he did not repent of his actions.

“It’s hard for me to apologize when we didn’t get help in this situation,” Gwin noted. - We called the police. There should be 25 calls recorded.”

After that, he apologized in a video message.

“I am deeply sorry and disgusted when I watch this video,” he said. - I completely broke down. I'm not trained to deal with such a long-term, citywide problem. I know it's very hard to watch. I can only ask others to perhaps try to better understand my turning point. Think back to your reactions to something and how they [people] may have reacted strongly and now feel so humiliated.”

Trena Hamidi, co-owner of a bar next to the gallery, was outraged by what she saw, although she admitted that Q had caused problems in the past, including obscene exclamations.

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“The city needs to step up and do something to give these people the support and assistance they need rather than moving them several blocks away,” Hamidi said. “This is not a solution.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed recently touted her administration's progress in reducing homelessness. She stated that between January 2019 and January 2022, the city saw a 15% decrease in homelessness and a 3,5% decrease in total homelessness.

“To achieve this goal, we launched new street initiatives, reactivated and expanded our shelter system, developed treatment programs for homeless people facing substance abuse and mental health issues, and purchased more housing units than in the last 20 years.” — wrote Brid.

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