Former NCAA Swimmer Riley Gaines Refutes University Statement That Trans Activists Protested ‘Peacefully’

Four times SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, at the Hilton Anatole on Aug. 6, 2022. Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines—who said she was physically attacked at San Francisco State University (SFSU) on Thursday night after giving a speech on the issue of “Saving Women’s Sports”—rejected the SFSU’s statement that suggested transgender activists had protested “peacefully” at the event.

“I had to reread that to make sure that they actually used the word peaceful. I was held hostage for three hours. I missed my flight home because it was not safe to leave,” Gaines told The Epoch Times in a text message, which referenced protests that occurred after her speech at SFSU on the issue of biological males competing in women’s sports.

“These ‘peaceful’ protesters stormed into the classroom where I was explaining why sex-protected sports are necessary for fairness and safety and ambushed me,“ Gaines wrote. ”They turned the lights off and came in with full force, physically and verbally assaulting me.”

Gaines had previously shared with The Epoch Times that the protesters flickered the lights in the classroom and shone their phone flashlights in her face. She was struck twice on the shoulder and once on the face, she said. Through the flickering lights, Gaines said she was able to make out that the assaulter was a man who likely identified as a woman, given the person’s feminine clothing.

“They demanded money from me if I wanted to safely make it home. Yet they consider me and my message violent? We must have different definitions of peaceful,” Gaines added.

The SFSU email, signed by Dr. Jamillah Moore, Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, and posted yesterday on Twitter by David Llamas, a Turning Point USA College Field Representative, commended the activists’ protests. “Thank you to our students who participated peacefully in Thursday evening’s event. It took tremendous bravery to stand in a challenging space,” Moore wrote.

“I am proud of the moments where we listened and asked insightful questions,“ Moore stated. ”I am also proud of the moments when our students demonstrated the value of free speech and the right to protest peacefully. These issues do not go away, and these values are very much at our core.”

At the end of the email, equity and community inclusion, psychological services, and the Dean of Students office were listed as supporting resources.

Gaines reposted the email on Twitter, and inquired of the student affairs manager: “@DrJamillahMoore you write this??? Do you need more video proof??? Allow me.” Gaines posted two videos with her message that she said she filmed under a door while barricaded in a classroom for three hours, waiting for the hallway to clear in order to be able to leave.

In one of the videos, a protester exclaimed, “If she didn’t want the smoke, she shouldn’t have came here. You need to go in there and tell her that!” Shortly after, the protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace!”

In the other video, a protester demanded that Gaines come out of the room say “I’m a [expletive] transphobe” if she wanted to leave.

Gaines’ speech objecting to biological males competing in women’s sports was given on the same day the Biden Administration proposed a new Title IX rule that would make school policies illegal if they “categorically ban transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.”

After the attack, Gaines said she was undeterred and would “speak louder” on the issue. “When they’re yelling things at you, when they’re threatening your family, when they’re wishing death on you, when they’re telling you they will pursue these acts, you have no other option than to be scared, but I won’t let that fear instill in me.”

The Epoch Times contacted SFSU and Dr. Jamillah Moore for comment, but they had not replied by the time this article was published.