Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines was assaulted by a leftist protester at San Francisco State University, where she spoke about the pitfalls of allowing biologically male transgender athletes in women’s sports. On April 6, Gaines was targeted by a mob of pro-trans protesters during a “Save Women’s Sports” event at SFSU. The disruption was magnified by a lack of safety planning by the University.
Video footage of the raucous protests can be seen here. Gaines was invited to speak by the university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter, and the event was funded by the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia.
One of the members of TPUSA, Navid Mehdipour, lamented that SFSU campus police did not plan for any possible disruption, or have anything in place to protect Gaines and the attendees of the event, despite the obvious risk.
Mehdipour said his Turning Point chapter had received threats of violence, including the use of bricks and baseball bats, directed towards Gaines and themselves for nearly a month since the announcement of the event. But the event was “mostly peaceful,” Mehdipour said, until the end of the event when a mob of protesters from outside the building stormed in.
Footage from the student news organization Golden Gate Xpress shows Gaines being taken away from the event space into the greenroom by security as the protesters chanted “Trans women are women.” One protester is captured on film screaming “F*** you! Trans rights are human rights!” TPUSA members were also escorted out by security thirty minutes later.
Gaines was trapped inside the green room space for nearly three hours. Two days ago, Gaines tweeted, “The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU … I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces.”
Gaines is referring to a trans-woman (biological man), whose identity has not yet been made known.
The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU…I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. 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. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/uJW3x9RERf
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 7, 2023
Mehdipour says that SFSU campus police did not have any protected exit plan for Gaines, which left her trapped in the green room until San Francisco Police arrived. Video from the Golden Gate Xpress shows SFPD officers on the scene by 8:47 PM local time, preventing the protesters from entering the green room.
The Assistant Dean of Students, Chris Trudell, addressed the crowd at approximately 9:50 PM, saying, “I want to offer that this conversation that we’re having as a community, as a campus can continue.”
In response, a member of the crowd demanded that Gaines pay the protesters in exchange for them leaving. “She probably got paid for this s***, so we can get paid too,” said the protester.
An hour and a half later, San Francisco Police finally declared the protest an unlawful assembly, saying that any protesters who remained would arrested. Gaines was escorted off the premises by SFPD shortly before midnight.
Amanda Nordstrom of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression called the disruption “mob censorship” and said it’s “never an appropriate reaction to speech, adding that “the First Amendment does not protect silencing speakers via disruption.”
“Public universities have a non-negotiable duty to ensure protected speech can occur on campus — without violence or intimidation. When campus speaking events become battlegrounds, all students suffer because they are deprived of opportunities to hear other perspectives and engage with ideas civilly. FIRE urges SFSU to examine its failures last night and ensure a plan is in place to protect free speech for everyone, no matter their views.”
Jon Root, national-level TPUSA activist, said “Riley Gaines (Barker) is one of the most courageous women in the country. From the moment she stood tall on the same podium with a biological man, Lia Thomas at the NCAA swimming championships, she’s been a warrior for women’s sports, fairness and equality. Truth is hate to those that hate the truth.”
In Gaines’ tweets about the assault, she said the incident “only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder.”
