Shelby Bowen placed third in last week’s Pismo Beach mayoral election. A 16-year-old transgender girl identified as River says Bowen targeted her while she was trick-or-treating outside her Shell Beach home on Halloween. Bowen publicly responded to social media posts about the incident in Facebook comments that were later deleted.
Teen Says She Was Singled Out While Trick-or-Treating
The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported that River said Bowen grabbed her after she declined a Christian pamphlet Bowen was handing out with candy, then put it in River’s trick-or-treat bag. River said Bowen called her a “sin to God.”
River told the Tribune she believes the encounter happened “because I was a transgender individual.” The account is River’s description of the incident, not an official finding. The Tribune reported that Bowen had not responded to its questions about the encounter as of Thursday afternoon.
Mother Says She Filed a Police Report
Katt Winter, whom the Tribune identified in connection with the encounter, said she filed a police report and intends to press charges against Bowen for harassment.
Statewide data and how California defines hate incidents
The California Department of Justice’s 2024 report counted 73 reported anti-transgender-bias events statewide, up from 65 in 2023. These statewide figures provide context only and do not establish what happened in River’s case. The California Attorney General’s Office defines a hate incident as behavior motivated by hate that is not a crime. That general distinction does not determine how River’s allegation should be classified.
Candidate Placed Third in Last Week's Mayoral Race
Bowen's name was still fresh on Pismo Beach ballots when the allegations surfaced. In results reported at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with all three precincts counted, the Tribune's election coverage showed Bowen receiving 5.1% of the vote, placing third among the three mayoral candidates.
Before entering local politics, Bowen spent eight years as a U.S. Air Force aircraft maintenance officer, according to the same Tribune report, before later becoming a leadership instructor for the Reserve Officer's Training Corps at San Diego State University.
