Moment Art Dealer Hoses Down Homeless Woman Outside Gallery

Video purporting to show a San Francisco business owner hosing down a homeless woman near his store, after she refused to move, has caused outrage on social media.

The 14-second clip captured a man with a hose, identified by local news site SFGATE as art gallery owner Collier Gwin, spraying a woman on the ground with water, as she put her hands up for protection and shouts in distress.

During the latter half of the clip the man can be heard shouting: "Hey, just move. Move, move, move. You going to move?"

The clip was posted on Twitter by a local on Monday, who added "Only in San Francisco," and tagged in a number of local media outlets and officials.

The incident took place outside the Barbarossa Lounge Bar on Montgomery Street, though the venue was uninvolved and condemned the "inhuman actions" on social media.

Gwin, who owns the next-door Foster Gwin gallery, told SFGATE the woman had refused to move when he was cleaning the street.

He said: "In that situation, the street was being washed and she refused to move. She started screaming profanities, and becoming very belligerent... at that point, the cleaning on the street was directed more in front of her."

Gwin claimed the woman had spent nearly two weeks in front of his business, and said he called the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) 25 times asking for help.

In a separate interview with the San Francisco Chronicle he added: "You know, spraying her is 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."

Newsweek has reached out to Gwin for comment.

In a statement to SFGATE the San Francisco Police Department said they responded to the incident as a "possible assault," but both Gwin and the woman who was sprayed "declined further police action at that time."

Twitter users responded to the video expressing their disgust. Local photojournalist Lea Suzuki tweeted: "Beyond disgusting."

Another California resident added: "I just went from zero to raging mad."

Tom Mailey condemned the incident, but also argued local authorities are failing to address the homelessness issue. He said: "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."

In December, incoming Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she would "declare a state of emergency on homelessness" as her first act in office.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) called on TikTok to take action in September, after drone videos of homeless people in Colorado were posted on the platform, which it branded "harassment."

During the same month employees at a Popeyes restaurant in Atlanta came under fire, after allegedly refusing to let a woman buy food for a homeless man.