Riley Gaines to pursue lawsuit after college praised 'peaceful' protesters
‘Outnumbered’ panel discusses Riley Gaines pursing legal action after she was attacked at a San Francisco University event.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA champion swimmer who was "barricaded" in a San Francisco State University classroom amid a violent scene involving pro-transgender protesters, responded to a memo from the Associated Students chapter president Karina Zamora addressing the incident.
Zamora said in the memo that Gaines’ event, sponsored by Turning Point USA, "promoted discriminatory rhetoric towards trans women athletes." Zamora apologized to the students who were met with a police presence despite the chaos that took place at the event.
"I, as President of Associated Students, condemn and stand against the hateful rhetoric and promotion of violence spread by TPUSA and Riley Gaines as well as the confrontational behavior of the behest of Campus Administration," the memo read.
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Swimmer Riley Gaines is barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University after she says she was assaulted while speaking at a college event put on by a popular conservative organization. (Riley Gaines via Twitter/Getty Images)
"As President of Associated Students and on behalf of the organization, I call on President Lynn Mahoney and her administration to hold themselves accountable and host a community forum to hear how damaging these tactics have been to our student body. I call on campus administrators to work with our students and community to revisit and amend current policies and practices to uplift student voices and protect our student body, including transparency in publicly sharing with the AS Board of Directors how the university plans to move forward with a plausible action plan."
The memo made no mention of an apology to Gaines. But the former NCAA swimming star responded to the memo on her Twitter account.
"’Presence of police was excessive and uncalled for.’" … "’Violence spread by Riley Gaines.’
"All for sharing my lived experience of competing against a male and why its harmful to not have sex protected sports… At least we can agree that SFSU needs to hold themselves accountable."
Associated Students serves as the student government at SFSU.
Gaines was barricaded in a room at the university Thursday night after she said she was physically assaulted following a speech to students about saving women's sports at a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute event on the campus.
Louis Barker, Riley's husband, said he had brief conversations with her while she was barricaded in the room for nearly three hours.
RILEY GAINES BLASTS SF STATE FACULTY MEMBER WHO CALLED PROTESTS AT HEART OF INCIDENT 'PEACEFUL'
"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."
Gaines shared footage she took showing her being rushed out of the venue by police officers amid an onslaught of verbal attacks from the detractors who surrounded her.
"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."
Footage shared to social media by Golden Gate Xpress, the school's student-run newspaper, showed a small protest emerge ahead of Gaines' arrival at the school Thursday evening.
Other pieces of footage from the outlet showed the protest growing in size – eventually becoming so chaotic that Gaines was escorted out of the room and down a hallway by police and barricaded in a separate room.
While she was being moved to a safer location, protesters were captured on video chanting various phrases along the lines of "go the f--- home" and "trans women are women," while placing transgender flags on the school's walls.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks during a rally on Jan. 12, 2023, outside of the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
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The outlet also shared images showing some members of the TPUSA staff being held up and escorted out of the venue amid the protests. Chris Trudell, the assistant dean of students, was reportedly seen trying to deescalate the situation.
Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
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