Shannon Collier Gwin, the 71-year-old owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery in San Francisco, was at his wit’s end. A homeless woman known as “Q” had camped out in front of his gallery and was screaming obscenities at passers-by.
Gwin tried everything. He offered to move Q’s belongings. Q refused help. Gwin called the police at least “25 times” but no help was forthcoming.
Finally, Gwin lost it. He stood outside his store and sprayed water from a garden hose on Q, trying to get her to leave.
Gwin’s act of desperation was caught on video, and the viral recording ended up getting him arrested.
San Francisco businessman Shannon Collier Gwin caught on video hosing down an unhoused person… yikes 😬
Buddy! this ain’t the 50s or 60s pic.twitter.com/dKgM3UANCG— 4ortunefame💰✨👑✨💰 (@4ortunefame) January 19, 2023
District Attorney Brook Jenkins celebrated his arrest of the dangerous 71-year-old Gwin.
The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions. Likewise, the vandalism at Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must stop – two wrongs do not make a right.
— Brooke Jenkins 謝安宜 (@BrookeJenkinsSF) January 19, 2023
Gwin is being charged with misdemeanor battery “for the alleged intentional & unlawful spraying of water” on Q. Does that mean kids who play with water guns can also be arrested?
And while we’re on the subject, doesn’t the DA of a city wracked by violent crime have anything better to do than arresting exasperated business owners?
Hundreds of dealers of illegal fentanyl are walking around within 6 blocks of city hall. Yes you waste resources on this?
— Rowan Trollope (@rowantrollope) January 19, 2023
The confrontation comes as San Francisco – as well as other cities with expensive housing costs – has struggled to address a rise in homelessness and the sense of disorder that it can bring. About 4,400 people live unsheltered on San Francisco’s streets and 3,400 live in shelters, according to a 2022 tally by the city.
Gwin told CNN affiliate KGO that the homeless person, a regular in the area, refused to move and resisted his help in moving their belongings. He added that he was not remorseful for his actions.
“I find it hard to apologize when we’ve had no help on this situation,” Gwin told KGO after the incident and before his arrest. “We’ve called the police. There must be 25 calls on record to police.”
Gwin has since offered an apology for spraying Q — probably on the advice of an attorney.
“I’m deeply apologetic and abhorred when I watch that video,” he said. “I completely broke. I’m not equipped or trained to deal with a long-term citywide problem like this. I know it’s very hard to watch. I can only ask others to maybe try to better understand my breaking point by looking at sudden reactions they might have had in their own life and how they may have strongly overreacted and now feel so humbled and sorry.”
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Gwin admitted he lost his temper. How many other residents and business owners in San Francisco also find themselves at the end of their rope and lash out in some way at the people in their neighborhoods who scream at them, urinate and defecate on their property, and threaten their children with absolutely no response from the police and a mayor in city hall who brags about this impossible situation getting better?
The only difference between Gwin and other at-wits-end residents is that no one with a camera phone was around to record it.
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