WATCH: Riley Gaines whisked to safety after being assaulted at San Francisco event
Heather Hamilton
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Riley Gaines was whisked to safety by police on Thursday night after being assaulted while speaking at a Turning Point USA event held on the campus of San Francisco State University.
In a video Gaines posted to Twitter, the former championship swimmer-turned-women’s sports advocate can be seen hurrying down a hallway alongside police officers as transgender activists shouted, “Trans rights are human rights.”
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“The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU,” Gaines tweeted along with video footage. “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.”
As Gaines shared her experience competing against Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a transgender female, a crowd of protesters could be heard chanting outside. The protesters eventually made their way to the room where Gaines was speaking, forcing her to evacuate.
As she was escorted by police, Gaines said she was physically hit.
“I’m OK currently, but an hour and a half later, I’m still barricaded in a room with ambushers on the outside yelling and threatening violence,” Gaines said.
“As police escorted me out of the event space to my current location, I was hit, physically, twice by what I presume was a male individual. This only assures me I’m doing the right thing.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called the attack “unacceptable.”
“This is unacceptable at an American college campus, even in San Francisco,” Kirk tweeted. “Pray for Riley Gaines and for our brave students at SFSU.”
Gaines’s agent, Eli Bremer, said the attack would not deter her from continuing to speak out.
“Instead of a thoughtful discussion tonight at SFSU, Riley was violently accosted, shouted at, physically assaulted, and barricaded in a room by protestors. It is stunning that in America in 2023, it is acceptable for biological male students to violently assault a woman for standing up for women’s rights,” Bremer said in a statement. “This will not stop Riley from boldly educating people of the dangers of biological males in women’s sports. She will continue to speak the truth against the radical left that no longer understands the difference between men and women.”
The event began just before 7 p.m. Pacific time. Nearly five hours later, police told all protesters who remained to disperse or face arrest. A video posted by the school’s student-run newspaper showed Gaines leaving SFSU alongside a police escort just before midnight.
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Gaines has said she believes it is going to take female athletes making courageous moves to boycott competition for there to be greater change.
Gaines recently praised World Athletics’ decision to ban biological males who identify as transgender women from competing in female sporting events. She called for greater action to be taken to protect younger girls sports.