San Francisco art gallery owner arrested for hosing a homeless woman
An art gallery owner in downtown San Francisco was taken into custody on Wednesday after a cell phone video showed him deliberately spraying a homeless woman with a hose, sparking outrage and condemnation.
A misdemeanor arrest warrant for Collier Gwin was issued Wednesday, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement.
San Francisco’s CBS channel filmed footage of Gwin’s detention on Wednesday afternoon outside his gallery.
“The alleged beating of a homeless member of our community is completely unacceptable. Gwyn faces appropriate consequences for his actions,” Jenkins said in a statement.
The incident took place on January 9, according to the district attorney’s office. The video, which was posted on social media, shows a man pouring water over a homeless woman for several seconds as she lay on the sidewalk.
In an interview with CBS in San Francisco last week, Gwin admitted that he was the man in the video. According to CBS San Francisco, Gwin is the owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery in the city’s financial district, and the incident took place just steps away from his gallery.
“What they saw is very unfortunate,” he told CBS in San Francisco last week. “I feel terrible not only because I want to get out of trouble or something like that, but also because I made such an enormous effort to help this woman.”
Speaking to reporters January 13, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the incident reminded her of how civil rights protesters were treated in the 1960s.
“When I saw it, all I could think about was what happened during the civil rights movement,” Breed said. “It’s sad, at a time when African Americans were fighting to have our rights considered equal in this country. Even at the time, law enforcement and others used water hoses to stop the protesters. And it just takes us back, unfortunately, to that time. And no other person should be able to do this to any other person, period. As far as I understand, this is an attack.”
If found guilty as charged, Gwin faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $2,000 fine, the district attorney’s office said.
Since the video went viral, the victim has received assistance from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, according to CBS San Francisco.
News Press Ohio – Latest News:
Columbus Local News || Cleveland Local News || Ohio State News || National News || Money and Economy News || Entertainment News || Tech News || Environment News