A video of a man dousing a homeless woman with water in an attempt to drive her away has sparked outrage.
Collier Gwin, Foster Gwin Gallery's owner in San Francisco, blasted a homeless woman with a hose after she lay outside his gallery on January 9th. Talking to the media, Gwin defended his actions saying the woman was littering the sidewalk with her belongings and acted unpredictably. He justifies himself by saying he resorted to dousing only when she turned over rubbish outside his business and didn’t leave.
Apparently, the art gallery owner told her, “You have to move; I cannot clean the street; move down,” but she didn’t budge and also started screaming hostile things, spitting, and yelling. After he doused her, he realized ‘spraying her is not the solution’ but claimed ‘spraying her woke her up.’
According to Gwin, he is a ‘champion’ in treating women and had let her sleep on the sidewalk without any complaints for days. He even attempted to contact the police and social services, but they didn’t respond.
However, contrary to Gwin’s statement, Edson Garcia, the head chef at a bakery, shared that the woman had slept a number of times in front of his bakery and had always complied when he asked her to move.
“It was cold and raining. She was screaming saying 'ok I'll move I'll move!’” said Garcia.
In a follow-up video, the art gallery owner said, “I've been here for forty years, and we've had tons of homeless, but they haven't been in a situation where they get that violent within ten days of the neighborhood trying to do something.”
His words sparked outrage on the internet, and his art gallery has since received poor reviews, bringing down the average review to 1.1.
580,466 People were Homelessness in America in January 2020
And of them, 70 percent were individuals, and the rest were families. The number of people who’re unsheltered and homeless, i.e., those who sleep on streets, in cars, in abandoned buildings, etc., has drastically increased since 2015.
The Video Has Sparked Outrage on the Internet
“How absolutely disgusting. That is not what I expect from Americans who have everything but compassion & empathy,” wrote a user.
“This is what happens when the gov't does nothing about the homeless after years & years and despite a $700M budget,” another user commented.
What do you think? Is the government not doing anything about the homeless? Share your thoughts below.
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Disclaimer: This video is for educational and information purposes only.
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