River, 16, has spoken out after a California mayoral candidate allegedly screamed at her while she was trick-or-treating.
The autistic transgender teenager told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that Shelby Bowen, who ran for mayor of Pismo Beach, grabbed her arm and forced a religious pamphlet into her candy bag outside Bowen’s Shell Beach home on Oct. 31. River said she had simply declined the Christian tract, titled “A Pumpkin Tale,” when the encounter turned hostile.
“She grabbed me… very firmly, and forced the pamphlet into my trick-or-treat bag that I was using to transport candy,” River said.
River’s mother, Katt Winter, had taken her three children trick-or-treating near Dinosaur Caves Park that evening, a Halloween tradition the family had followed for roughly a decade. Winter told the Tribune she did not initially recognize Bowen and only identified her after spotting a campaign sign outside the home.
River alleged Bowen was also using the occasion to promote her political ambitions to young children. “She was telling the little kids, like five-year-old girls, to vote for her, and she said to little kids that ‘You have met the mayor,'” River said.
According to River, the confrontation escalated dramatically. “She exclaimed the phrase, ‘You people are the problem,’ and started screaming, ‘Get your filthy hands off my candy, and your filthy body out of my city,'” River said. She also claimed Bowen called her “a sin to God.”
When River urged her mother to contact authorities, Bowen allegedly responded that police were “on my side anyway.”
River told the Tribune she believes she was singled out because she is transgender, noting she had previously encountered hostility from Bowen. “I think the reason why she acted that way or executed in such a demeanor is I feel like she had a little bit of disdain, or she detested me, because I was a transgender individual,” she said.
Winter took to Nextdoor after the incident to describe what allegedly happened, prompting neighbors to encourage her to contact law enforcement. The dispute then spilled onto Facebook, where Bowen allegedly responded to posts with disparaging comments directed at Winter. “Says the girl addicted to crystals,” Bowen allegedly wrote in a since-deleted comment, apparently referencing Winter’s work as owner of a local mineral shop. “You are welcome for the candy. Might wanna take an English class.”
Winter told the Tribune she subsequently filed a police report and plans to pursue harassment charges against Bowen.
Bowen, an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran who previously worked as an aircraft maintenance officer and later became a leadership instructor for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at San Diego State University, also runs Equine Coastal Wellness, an equestrian therapy and training business. Her mayoral bid proved unsuccessful; as of Thursday’s election update, she stood in a distant third place with just 5.1% of the vote in San Luis Obispo County.
Bowen’s attorney, C.J. Huck, pushed back against the allegations. “I just want to state for the record that this story started with an anonymous post on a neighborhood app,” he said. “The platform itself took the post down for violating its own guidelines. Nobody signed their name to it,” Huck added that “nobody filed a police report, to my knowledge,” and claimed “there’s a witness who was present that disputes the entire story.”
Winter was stunned that someone seeking public office would allegedly behave that way toward children. It was not immediately clear whether authorities had opened an investigation or whether any charges would be filed against Bowen.
