A man who was recorded hosing down a homeless woman in San Francisco, California, has said he was just trying to 'help her'.
A video of the situation was posted on Twitter this week with the caption: "This is horrible. This awful man is spraying a homeless woman down with a hose. You can hear her yell 'Help Me!'
"Does anyone recognize him? Is he affiliated with Barbarossa Lounge? This is inhumane and inexcusable."
The incident took place outside Barbarossa Lounge, who have since released a statement condemning the man's actions.
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It reads: "Barbarossa is in no way associated with the inhumane actions portrayed in the video. Upon investigation, it appears the actions are those of a neighbouring business owner.
"We are extremely disappointed in this individual's behavior and in no way support such actions. We have been informed that further formal and media investigation is underway.
"Barbarossa strives to support out local community and treat all passerby and patrons with equal respect and dignity."
The man in question has since been identified as Collier Gwin of Foster-Gwin Art & Antiques.
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After the video, originally posted by a staff member from a nearby bakery, went viral on social media - Gwin has since fessed up to the incident.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Gwin revealed that he told the woman: “I said you have to move; I cannot clean the street; move down."
He continued: “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'.”
When asked if he was sorry for his actions that have caused a storm on the internet, Gwin said to the San Francisco Chronicle: "You know, spraying her’s not the solution, but spraying her was something that woke her up and that calmed her down.
"So am I sorry? I’m only sorry that... my way of helping her countlessly has gotten nothing done."
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Following the first viral video, a second was later posted by Twitter user Darren Mckeeman with the caption: "I just went down and confronted him during an interview with the chronicle."
In the video, Gwin can be seen saying: "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 with ten days of the neighbourhood trying to do something."
The incident has already seen repercussions as Google Reviews for the gallery associated with Gwin has since dropped to an average of 1.1 stars, with people referencing the situation as reason for their low review of the business.
The reposted tweet, uploaded yesterday (10 January), has already amassed over 2.1 million views, over 1.4k retweets and hundreds of comments of people eager to share their responses to the video.
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One Twitter user commented: "It’s beyond cruel. But broken city governments that refuse to truly address the homeless problem are just as cruel. These people need. Help. They need services. Shelter. Drug, psych and alcohol treatment.
"Citizens need to hold city reps accountable until there is real change."
Another chimed in with: "The pure arrogance on his face as he does it. He looks like he’s actually enjoying it."
"The cruelty, his posture & expression…this is disgusting," a third weighed in with.
