Who is Collier Gwin? Video shows San Francisco art gallery owner spraying homeless woman down with hose
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: The owner of an art gallery in San Francisco who brought in A list of clients like David Rockefeller and Arnold Schwarzenegger has been caught on camera spraying a homeless woman down using a hose on the sidewalk. Collier Gwin, the owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery in the Financial District, was spotted on Monday lounging casually against the fence of a restaurant, blasting water at the woman as she yelled in terror.
Local businesses swiftly denounced his conduct, and dozens of outraged social media users demanded payback by posting a number of terrible reviews online, which resulted in the gallery's Google rating falling to just one star. The owner even refuses to apologize and instead defends his behavior.
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Gwin, whose former clients included David Rockefeller and Arnold Schwarzenegger, eventually admitted that he was the man in the video and then tried to justify his conduct by saying the woman had gone insane and was tossing trash cans over. "I said you have to move, I cannot clean the street, move down," Gwin stated to The San Francisco Chronicle. "She starts screaming belligerent things, spitting, yelling at me... at that point she was so out of control... I spray her with the hose and say move, move. I will help you." He went on and said that he is a "champion" for trying to help her earlier.
This is horrible. This awful man is spraying a homeless woman down with a hose. You can hear her yell “Help Me!”
— (((BrokeAssStuart))) (@BrokeAssStuart) January 10, 2023
Does anyone recognize him? Is he affiliated with Barbarossa Lounge? This is inhumane and inexcusable.
Shout out to @briochessf for posting the video. pic.twitter.com/3ZKeRP4gar
When asked about the incident, the chef of Brioche Cafe said he observed it happen while making an early-morning delivery at around 6 am on Monday, Jan 9. "I was shocked," Edson Garcia told The Chronicle. "I know that lady." Since then, about nine million people have watched the video. But Gwin stood by his actions despite the strong criticism. "You know, spraying her’s not the solution, but spraying her was something that woke her up, and that calmed her down," Gwin stated. "So am I sorry? I’m only sorry that... my way of helping her countlessly has gotten nothing done."
Gwin stated that he had permitted her to remain on the sidewalk for days prior to the incident and had made an effort to contact the police and other emergency services to seek her assistance. According to SocketSite, his art gallery has been open since 1984 and has attracted A-list patrons like Schwarzenegger.
Gwin was visible in the video reclining on a gate outside the Barbarossa Lounge, a restaurant that shares a wall with the gallery. Internet detectives looking for the offender initially believed Gwin was connected to the restaurant. Owner Arash Ghanadan refuted the claim as the deluge of hateful messages that arrived.