Gallery owner who hosed homeless woman in San Francisco arrested
A San Francisco art gallery owner who sprayed a homeless woman with a hose has been arrested, police have said. Collier Gwin, 71, has been charged with misdemeanour battery, after a video of him spraying the woman outside his gallery on 9 January caused outrage. He faces up to six months in prison and a $2,000 (£1,600) fine, the city’s district attorney said. Mr Gwin has since apologised for his actions, describing them as indefensible.
In the clip which went viral online, he was seen standing outside his business, directing the stream of water directly onto the woman sitting on the pavement outside for several seconds – eventually stopping to tell her to move away. Among those who expressed outrage at the video was the city’s mayor London Breed, who said last week it reminded her of how police treated civil rights protesters during the 1960s. One local man, Alex Sakiyama, told San Francisco news station ABC7 he felt the incident was “really disturbing”, adding that the woman sleeps rough in the local area and can often be heard screaming at night.(BBC)…[+]