On Wednesday, authorities filed misdemeanor battery charges against the San Francisco art gallery owner who had been caught on camera dousing a homeless woman with a garden hose and took him into custody.
Last week, Shannon Collier Gwin was apprehended at his Foster Gwin Gallery in the Jackson Square neighborhood of the city – precisely where a viral video showed him spraying down a woman for lying on the pavement several days before.
“Gwin was transported to the San Francisco County Jail where he was booked for the arrest warrant on the charge of battery (242 PC),” the San Francisco police stated.
“The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stated.
Prior to his arrest for the incident, Gwin had admitted to dousing a woman with a garden hose. Although he has since issued a public apology following thousands of views on the video footage, his actions have still sparked major controversy.
“I’m deeply apologetic and abhorred when I watch that video,” he said. He passionately expressed his exasperation with the never-ending homeless crisis, noting that it had drained him of all hope.
In the video, Gwin remains composed as he soaks the shrieking woman with water.
“Are you gonna move?” Gwin yelled. “Move.”
Gwin explained to the San Fransisco Chronicle that before he decided to use a hose on “Cora,” she had been acting in a threatening and aggressive manner. According to Gwin, Cora flipped over his trashcans and was spitting at him while shouting profanities.
While Gwin had grown accustomed to the woman’s often antagonistic behavior, he still held a fondness for her and allowed her to sleep in his gallery entranceway. Desperate to get her some help, he contacted social services and police, yet despite their efforts she was released from care after several days and returned back to him.
After a call reported that an assault was in progress, San Fransisco police swiftly arrived and spoke to both Gwin and the homeless woman. Nevertheless, it took another nine days before charges were brought against Gwin according to the officers’ statement.
Since the release of Gwin’s now-infamous video, their gallery has been targeted with vandalism.
“The vandalism at Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must stop — two wrongs do not make a right,” Jenkins said Wednesday.
