Riley Gaines slams statement from SF State PRAISING students

‘I was assaulted’: Incredulous Riley Gaines slams statement from SF State PRAISING students for ‘peaceful’ protests after she was ‘attacked’ and forced to hide inside a room when trans-rights protesters stormed her speech about women’s sport

• Gaines claimed a group of activists ambushed her during speech at school 
• In a letter to students, VP of student affairs praised ‘peaceful’ protesters 
• Champion swimmer said she was ‘assaulted’ and ‘held for ransom’ 

College swimming champion Riley Gaines slammed San Francisco State University for praising their students for so-called ‘peaceful’ protests after she claims she was hit ‘multiple times by a guy in a dress’ following a speech about saving women’s sports.

Gaines, 23, was forced to barricade herself inside a room for around three hours at the San Francisco State University campus last night after a group of activists ambushed her. 

She was giving a speech to students about competing against Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, at the Women’s NCAA Swimming Championships last year. It’s unclear what exactly set off the fracas but video shows students loudly drowning out Gaines’ speech about competing against ‘biological males’ in women’s sports.

In an email to students from Jamillah Moore, Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management and reposted online, she claims the school is ‘proud’ of the students who ‘participated peacefully’ and made it clear that the trans community is welcome at the school.

Gaines – who told DailyMail.com exclusively about how she was punched twice by a trans activist – responded angrily, writing: ‘I’m sorry did this just say PEACEFUL…. I was assaulted. I was extorted and held for ransom. The protestors demanded I pay them if I wanted to make it home safely.’

Gaines, 23, was forced to barricade herself inside a room for around three hours at the San Francisco State University campus last night after a group of activists ambushed her

Moore finished her email writing: ‘This feels difficult because it is difficult. As you reflect, process, and begin to heal, please remember that there are people, resources and services available and ready to receive our Gator community, including faculty, staff members, coaches and mentors who are here to support you.’

Gaines did note that there was a ‘diverse’ crowd and that ‘we had great dialogue and listened to each other.’

But she notes that ‘that ambush was the opposite of peaceful.’

Gaines’ husband, Louis Barker, said over the weekend that he had brief conversations with his wife while she was locked in the room for nearly three hours. 

‘She told me she was hit multiple times by a guy in a dress. I was shaking. It made me that mad. It makes me sick to feel so helpless about it,’ Barker said. ‘She was under police protection and was still hit by a man wearing a dress.’

‘The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU…I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man,’ Gaines wrote in the tweet. 

‘This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces. Still only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder.’ 

Jamillah Moore (pictured), Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management for San Francisco State, sent out the original email

College swimming champion Riley Gaines has filmed herself being reportedly ambushed by screaming trans activists who physically attacked her following a speech about saving women’s sports

A terrified Gaines, 23, was forced to barricade herself inside a room at the San Francisco State University campus last night after a group of activists ambushed her

Gaines, 22, told DailyMail.com how her assailant – who she says was a transgender woman – hit her first in the shoulder and then in the face before an undercover campus cop came to her rescue.

The swimmer said she was barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University for three hours to protect herself from the ‘vengeful’ mob who were demanding they be let in to ‘fight’ her. San Francisco police said there were no arrests.

Gaines also turned her ire on the Biden administration for suggesting the trans community is under threat, when it is women who are being assaulted.

In a wide-ranging interview, Gaines hit out at proposals by the president that would mean misgendering someone could be considered sexual harassment – and accused the White House of fostering a narrative that has encouraged violence and threats towards women.

College swimming champion Riley Gaines has filmed herself being reportedly ambushed by screaming trans activists who physically attacked her following a speech about saving women’s sports

‘I think this narrative was built because we have people in administrative roles, whether that be at universities or college campuses, or even the Biden administration…saying that the trans community is under threat,’ she said.

‘So I think they like to think they’re constantly being persecuted…But in my experience…I have always been on the receiving end of that hate.’

The swimmer was speaking as she returned to her home in Nashville after giving a talk on women’s rights at the university Thursday night.

But the event was hijacked by around 100 protesters who swarmed the campus.

Gaines said the talk itself, which started at around 7.30pm, was ‘really awesome’, with 75 attendees respectfully sharing differing views on transgender athletes in sport.

But as she was leaving the room where the talk was being held she was ambushed by angry trans activists, who rushed into the venue from the hallway outside.

‘All of a sudden ambushers swarm in, tons of them,’ she said. ‘They immediately rush to the front of the room where I am, so I’m kind of cornered at a podium at this point.

‘They’re screaming in my face. This is the point where I was struck twice…I believe, aiming for my shoulder both times, but hit me the first time on the shoulder, and then the second time it grazed my face.’

Gaines said she thought she was hit with a closed fist by the transgender woman, before demonstrating the upward punching motion that was used.

‘I’m not entirely sure if it [her first] was closed or open, but it was 100 per cent intentional,’ she added.

The swimmer said she was then whisked away by an undercover campus cop, but was met by ‘an even bigger crowd’ of protesters coming from both directions.

‘Because there was no clear exit out of this hallway we were kind of forced into a side room…where we essentially had to lock ourselves in for three hours,’ she said.

Gaines said the protesters remained outside the room for the duration, ‘screaming and yelling vulgar and violent things’.

‘They were screaming there will be vengeance, and that this is a fight and that I’m using my white privilege. There were threats, intimidation. They kept saying: “Open the door. Let us at Riley. We want to fight her.”

‘A lot of these are empty threats in a way, but at the same time you do have to kind of fear for your safety in a situation like that.’

She said the protesters were ‘clearly unhinged’ and ‘vengeful’. 

‘It was violent and it was not progressive,’ she added.

Gaines slammed the Biden administration for ‘betraying’ women by failing to protect them 

Former President Donald Trump with swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at the CPAC Convention, Hilton Anatole, Dallas, Texas. August 06 2022

Gaines defended those who had come to protest peacefully and said she had no problem with people yelling ‘trans women are women’, but said inciting violence was never acceptable.

She said she has regularly received violent threats prior to giving talks at universities and blamed the Biden administration for its stance on transgender issues.

She pointed to comments made by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre  suggesting that the trans community in America was ‘under attack’ in the wake of a Nashville school shooting by a transgender former student.

Gaines said: ‘In my experience I have never once said anything remotely threatening, remotely hateful towards the trans identifying individual or anyone in the LGBT community.

‘I have always been on the receiving end of that hate, and I find it a bit ironic, because it comes from the party who claims to be tolerant and accepting and loving and welcoming.’

She also referred to her experience of competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and seeing Thomas’ male genitalia in the changing room in the context of changes to Title IX being pursued by the White House, which would mean misgendering someone – refusing to use a person’s preferred pronouns – could be considered sexual harassment.

‘It just felt like maybe two years ago, this person would have been arrested for indecent exposure, for voyeurism, for sexual harassment…But now we are the ones who are committing sexual harassment.’

Gaines recounted her experience competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and seeing her male genitalia in the changing rooms

Speaking about her encounter with Thomas in the female changing rooms, she said: ‘Of course you’re awkward. It’s embarrassing. It’s uncomfortable. It felt like belittlement, but more than anything it was betrayal.

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines

‘The people who were supposed to be protecting us were not protecting us. It’s heartbreaking.

‘We should not lose the ability to consent in areas of undressing where we will be exposed to and exposing ourselves to the opposite sex.’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had earlier Friday condemned the incident as ‘an appalling attack on free speech on a college campus’.

He tweeted: ‘House Republicans stand with Riley Gaines and her brave and tireless efforts to protect women’s sports.’

The San Francisco Police Department said it was investigating the incident but there were ‘no arrests related to the event’.

A spokesman added: ‘The disruption occurred after the conclusion of the event which made it necessary for UPD officers to move the event speaker from the room to a different, safe location.’

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