Who Is Collier Gwin and why are they saying such nasty things about him?
Collier claims he told the woman to move down the street so he might clean the sidewalk out front of his business.
She responded by pelting him with obscenities.
That’s when he JUST SNAPPED, he says.
Some Background
Edson Garcia, co-owner of Brioche Cafe recorded the cell phone video, while he was on his way to deliver a catering order just after 6 a.m. on Monday.
“I turned to the side and saw the guy pouring water to the lady.” He said, incredulously.
Garcia, who has seen the unhoused woman in the North Beach neighborhood before, sometimes asks her not to block the doorway to his café, and has never found her to be belligerent.
He adds that given the weather conditions, the man’s actions appeared especially cruel.
“It was cold and raining. She was screaming saying ‘ok I’ll move I’ll move!’ It’s not fair to see people doing stuff like that.”
The incident happened outside of Barbarossa Lounge, which is next to the art gallery. The lounge’s co-partner Arash Ghanadan says they are not affiliated with Gwin and released this statement in response to threats and negative response from the public.
“Barbarossa Lounge has been made aware of a video that has begun to circulate on social media, which was filmed outside of our small business. Barbarossa is in no way associated with the inhumane actions portrayed in the video. Upon investigation it appears the actions are those of a neighboring 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 our local community and treat all passerby and patrons with equal respect and dignity.”
It’s unclear what happened to the woman who Gwin sprayed, but commenters have noted that Gwin could be charged with assault under state law.
Eric Ting of SF Gate tweeted that police spoke to Gwin about a possible assault but that both parties declined further action at that time.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin posted about the incident on Twitter Tuesday evening, calling it an “unconscionable assault” and saying police were “soliciting witness statements to ensure this man is charged.”
He also said that his office was “well acquainted with the victim” and had by trying to get support for her from the San Francisco Department of Public Health “for months.”
CBS news
Who’s Collier Gwin?
We can pretty much tell from all the news stories who Collier Gwin is. He’s a business man, an art dealer with a high-end clientele. His showroom is on Montgomery street, the scene of the incident. He’s been in business there for forty years. I would guess he’s law abiding. I imagine he pays his taxes. Maybe he owns his building. IF so, does that include the sidewalk? If he rents his building, he pays up the nose in rent.
His story made the Daily Mail, the British Rag, and they’re calling him “EVIL.”
Is Collier Gwin Evil?
I don’t know if he’s evil. I don’t know him, personally. The thing is, I know him. I know him from all the news stories.
It started with Edson Garcia, co-owner of the Brioche cafe. A neighbor. He cell phone videoed the spraying and put it on his tick tock account. From Tic-Tock it got picked up by Broke-ass Stuart, a local blogger, with a following far greater than mine. Broke-ass is a go getter. He makes me look pathetic. Broke-ass put the video on Instagram. Broke-ass has a lot of followers on Instagram.
From there it exploded. I mean, it flew everywhere. Why? Because it’s RED MEAT for the news Jackals….
The story showed up in Artnews. You’d expect it to be there. Gwin is in the art business.
But the Washington Post? Not only is his story in the post. He made the India Times, the Guardian, The Daily Mail, the Economic Times, The New York Post, not to mention all the network news shows. He made POLITICO, and a shit load more papers and blogs and news programs from all over hell. I don’t have time to list them all.
(Okay, so he made Politico as an Item, as Herb Caen used to call them…)
But so what? He made Politico.
He made it everywhere but the big daddy of news, the New York Times. Nothing there…
Wait a minute!
I found his infamous spraying video on the New York Times Youtube channel:
Wow! It has since been removed. I wonder why?
Okay, so he’s everywhere, so what?
This is how the world works these days. You mind your own business for forty years. You make it in life. At least you make a success of your business. Maybe you’re a nice guy. Possibly you’re a decent human being. Meanwhile people are sleeping on ratty mattresses right out front your door and they’ve been out there on the pavement for YEARS. You come to work, there they are. You leave work, still there. Clients come and go, and they get panhandled. It never ends.
You might as well be doing business in CALCUTTA!
One day you just snap.
You snap…and thanks to the way the world works these days, you are everywhere.
BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY.
People who should know better are bashing you. Twitter is buzzing with your nefarious deed. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, a politician, wants you tarred and feathered. He doesn’t know you personally. He’s a politician, okay? Homeless Advocacy groups are attacking you. None of these people know you.
How would they know you? You are a heretofore law abiding citizen.
Now you’re in danger of being charged with assault…even though the police took a report and the poor homeless victim refused to press charges. You’re forced to shut down your website, which generates business. Crazies have kicked in the door to your business. Shop owners and restaurants on the street are bashing you to the press. You’re a fucking pariah!
Everybody despises you because of a video.
I’ll admit, the video looks pretty bad.
He snapped, okay? He’s been stepping over people camped on the pavement for years. He finally snapped and sprayed the woman screaming obscenities at him. He didn’t finish her off with a wood axe. He sprayed her with water. Then he came to his senses and stopped spraying her.
I’m not saying he’s a nice guy. Could be he’s an asshole. Obviously he’s no Mother Theresa.
Camping on the pavement on a ratty blanket is illegal. He calls the cops. the cops do nothing. He tried to get the woman help through the city’s health and human services. So he says. Why should we not take his word for it? He tried but nobody came through. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. If they took her away, she’s back the next day. And if it’s not her, it’s another homeless person. There’s 8 thousand others, waiting to take her place. The problem is too big. The problem is bigger than the cops. Bigger than the Politicians. The problem is getting worse. And a big reason the problem is getting worse is simple. People are talking about Collier Gwin instead of the poor homeless woman camped at his door.
Who is the victim of this spraying?
I can’t find her. Nothing. No information in any of the news outlets.
Nothing on social media.
I looked.
I googled around.
Nothing.
It’s like she doesn’t exist.
She’s a statistic.
Nobody cares about this poor woman.
Certainly not the people busy as bees BASHING Collier Gwin.
She’s just one of the eight thousand homeless people occupying the streets of San Francisco…
But hold on a second
There’s one person who definitely knows the victim.
Aaron Peskin, the politician, knows the victim. He said so. He said his office has been trying to get her help for “months.”
BTW…Aaron Peskin is not just a member of the San Francisco Board Of Supervisors.
He’s the PRESIDENT of the San Francisco Board Of Supervisors.
Maybe it’s time for Aaron Peskin, the big shot president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, to put his money where his mouth is. REALLY do something for this poor homeless woman. Help her out. Put some of his political energy into helping HER, a nameless invisible statistic, instead of bashing Collier Gwin.
What do you think?
4 thoughts on “Who Is Collier Gwin and why are they saying such nasty things about him?”
Couldn’t agree more. The only part of the blog I take issue with is referring to this woman as houseless instead of homeless. A little to politically correct. Shame on you. I expected better.
I never referred to her as “houseless” rather the CBS news article I quoted referred to her as “unhoused” which is a politically correct term I abhor and would never use in polite company. Meanwhile, who is bothering to stand up for this guy Collier Gwin? Probably if I knew this guy I would dislike him, but that’s not the point. He’s being railroaded by the bleeding hearts and skewered by tin horn politicians and the jackal press and the swarm of twitter mosquitoes. The public at large is too dumb to read between the lines. This is why Pilate washed his hands.
What’s wrong with using the word “houseless”?
“unhoused” is a term people concerned with respect for all sentient beings came up with to replace “homeless” because these people feel that calling somebody “homeless” demeans them or reduces them in value. This is how “political correctness” proceeds. Personally, I believe, as an avowed progressive liberal possibly anarchic person, in the idea of “politically correct” thinking. Just as Lenin probably did. But there are limits to this brand of thinking. I also believe in being honest with your terms. Unhoused sounds like you lost your storage container; while homeless sounds exactly what it is: you lost your home. So at the cost of losing my “political correctness” and stepping on a few bleeding heart toes, I would prefer being honest with my terms.