Photo: TikTok
He has temporarily closed his business.
By NyRee Ausler — Written on Jan 13, 2023
San Francisco, California undeniably has a problem with homelessness.
Though the unsheltered are just 0.54% of the population, that is a disproportionately large amount when compared to the population.
Colin Gwin, owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery decided he’d had enough of one homeless woman crashing in front of his business and took controversial steps that have led to extreme backlash.
The San Francisco business owner sprayed a homeless woman with a hose to move her.
A TikTok account called "@cultural_movement" recently shared a video of the frustrated man spraying a woman and her belongings with a hose as she sat on the ground in front of his establishment.
The woman argues with Gwin inaudibly as he says, “Move. Move. You gonna move?” and points a finger in the direction he would like her to go.
The video displays a caption letting viewers know that the poster interviewed the businessman after he apparently became aware he was being filmed and that the incident would be shared.
Gwin realizes his actions are going to be viewed negatively and does some damage control.
Gwin is heard saying, “I need you to write a story that is apologetic on my part — that things could not have been handled better.”
He goes on to say that after countless times of trying to help her, wash down the street and clean up her mess, she became “completely belligerent and out of her mind.”
Though the woman doesn’t appear to be acting out of control, he uses her behavior as a reason for spraying her with the hose.
Gwin defiantly asserts, “Guess what? It woke her up and that’s what she needed to do.”
He blames the paramedics and social services for the lack of action in the woman’s situation.
The interviewer asks how long the hose was running since it appeared the lady was doused for an extended period of time and Gwin is unable to say how much time he spent spraying her.
The man continues to assert that his intention was to help the transient woman.
He claims to be sympathetic to the homeless plight, but his actions tell a different story.
People are conflicted about whether he was right or wrong.
Commenters were beside themselves with anger with the first person saying, “He’s calling her belligerent?” while others thought the incident was “very sad.”
Still, more people surprisingly stood by the entrepreneur.
One person said, “Some of you don’t like this, go help and you see the truth.”
Once the news broke and the incident spread, Gwin told CBS News, “What they saw is very regrettable.”
"I feel awful, not just because I want to get out of trouble, or something like that, but because I'd put a tremendous amount of effort into helping this woman on the street."
He admitted that what he did was indefensible and apologized repeatedly, but it would seem his apologies fell on deaf ears because his business received a slew of negative online reviews after the incident.
To make matters worse, the front door has since been smashed, creating a need for police to sit outside the storefront.
Gwin temporarily closed the business until the publicity blows over.
The Barbarossa Lounge, shown in the video, had to release a statement distancing themselves from Gwin’s actions.
Board of Supervisors President, Aaron Peskin released a statement saying, “I don’t care how frustrated somebody is, this is not the way human beings treat other human beings.”
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.