Riley Gaines delivers emotional statement at LGBTQ hearing
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines gave an emotional opening statement at the Senate hearing on ‘Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.’
Women's sports activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines slammed San Francisco law enforcement during her remarks on Capitol Hill Wednesday, accusing them of "failing miserably" at protecting her from the angry mob that protested her speaking event at San Francisco State University, where she said she was "held for ransom" in April.
"The law enforcement I was met with in San Francisco, in my opinion, failed miserably in effectively doing their job," she said.
"They mentioned that it was not ideal for them to be seen as anything other than an ally to this community and that was made very obvious in the treatment and effectiveness of removing me from that situation," she continued.
Gaines spoke at the Senate hearing on "Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans" on Wednesday, where she offered an emotional opening statement regarding her infamous fifth-place tie with biological male swimmer Lia Thomas, as well as her team's other shared experiences with the controversial swimmer.
RILEY GAINES SLAMS NCAA FOR ALLOWING LIA THOMAS TO COMPETE AT CHAMPIONSHIPS IN EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines spoke at a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. (Fox News/YouTube Screenshot)
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., followed up on the remarks, asking Gaines why she had been barricaded in a room on the campus and why the slew of protectors held her ransom.
"What were you saying that was so terrible?" he asked.
"I was invited to speak on my experience of my senior year in competing against a male. Nothing opinionated about what I shared. It was sheerly the exact lived experience of what me, my teammates and my fellow competitors dealt with," she said.
"I spoke. After my speech, there were, of course, a lot of protesters in the room. I'm totally fine with people protesting. It's their right to protest, but what I'm not fine with is when it does turn violent in the way that it did."
She recounted that protesters rushed into the room, turned off the lights, rushed to the podium at the front and assaulted her before holding her hostage.
RILEY GAINES DETAILS HARROWING SITUATION AT SFSU: ‘I FEARED FOR MY LIFE IN THAT MOMENT’
Riley Gaines, now a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, famously tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last year. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
The harrowing situation unfolded on the campus of San Francisco State University in April when Gaines was barricaded in a room after the assault. Her crime, in their opinion, was speaking out against transgender athletes competing in women's sports at the Turning Point USA-led "Save Women's Sports" event.
Gaines' remarks about the alleged shortcomings of San Francisco law enforcement reiterate a previous comment from her husband Louis Barker, who recounted Gaines telling him she had been hit multiple times even while under police protection.
"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."
San Francisco law enforcement and San Francisco State University police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
RILEY GAINES NEVER CONSIDERED HERSELF A FEMINIST. THEN SHE RACED LIA THOMAS
Speaking further, she shared some of her experiences with sharing a locker room and a podium with Thomas, directing one reply to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, D., who asked what message Gaines' rhetoric concerning transgender athletes in women's sports sent to trans individuals.
"Sen. Durbin ... you had mentioned this 'rhetoric.' You had mentioned 'what message does it send to trans individuals?' My comeback to that is: what message does this send to women, to young girls that are denied of these opportunities... so easily their rights to privacy and safety thrown out of the window?" she continued.
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Gaines has been a longtime advocate for women's sports and preserving Title IX, which guarantees protections on the basis of sex. She also says, despite her efforts to fight for women, she is continually shamed and inundated with hate.
"They will call you everything under the sun, whether it's transphobic, homophobic, racist, white supremacist, domestic terrorist...They will throw them all at you in hopes to deter you!"
Fox News' Kyle Morris and Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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