A man in San Francisco’s Financial District has been captured on video spraying water on a homeless person with a hose Monday, triggering strong reactions from community members who denounced his actions as inhumane.
The video, uploaded by the Twitter account of a nearby business, Brioche Cafe, depicts the man casually using a high-pressure hose to spray what appears to be a homeless woman sitting on the ground before pointing and yelling at them to move.
The victim, who appears to be sitting on the sidewalk with their belongings, screams and attempts to deflect the hose’s stream.
“Only in San Francisco,” Brioche Cafe tweeted. “No respect.”
Only in San Francisco. Business owner #reelsinstagram #shorts #briochesf @sfgov @SFGate @SupervisorTang @AaronPeskin @Telemundo48 No respect ✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/Gn2mmPpLtb
— #briochesf (@briochesf) January 9, 2023
Adam Mesnick, the owner of the SoMa sandwich shop Deli Board, also chimed in to denounce the man’s actions.
“Let’s be very clear this guy’s an asshole,” Mesnick wrote on Twitter.
Barbarossa Lounge, the business which the man is leaning on as he wields the hose, similarly denounced his actions and said that the man is associated with another nearby business.
“Barbarossa is in no way associated with the inhumane actions portrayed in the video. Upon investigation it appears that the actions are those of a neighboring business owner,” the business said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed in this individual's behavior.”
A recent barrage of rainstorms has caused chaos for homeless people as the city remains thousands of shelter beds and permanent supportive housing units short of addressing the crisis.
San Francisco has come under fire in a recent lawsuit that alleges the city’s treatment of homeless people violates the U.S. constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The San Francisco Police Department told The Standard that the victim "declined further police action."
This is a developing news story.