Riley Gaines, a former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimmer and advocate against biological males competing in women’s sports, described feeling “terrified” the moment before she was physically assaulted by a transgender activist at San Francisco State University earlier this week.
She was at the campus on the evening of April 6 to give a speech about saving women’s sports, according to an event announcement. She spoke to an audience of about 80 to 100 people, about half supporters and half protesters, Gaines said.
The protesters had messages written in Sharpie over their faces and hands and held signs, a silent sit-in that she was aware of ahead of the event and had no problem with.
But over the course of her speech, more protesters, she said, had gathered in the hallway outside the room, chanting, “Trans women are women!” “Trans liberation!” “Trans rights are human rights.” “It’s time to fight!”
As Gaines wrapped up the Q&A section and was ready to leave, the protesters outside the classroom rushed in. Someone turned the lights off. Shortly after, she was cornered into the front of the room behind the podium.
“I’m in San Francisco, which is one of the most liberal cities. There’s no police in here. And no one told me what to do in this scenario,” Gaines told The Epoch Times on April 8.
“I was terrified because I was cornered.”
Surrounded
Gaines was supposed to meet up with campus police ahead of the event, similar to when she gave speeches at other universities, to discuss action plans. But this didn’t happen.
Soon, the lights in the room started flickering. And some protesters were shining their phone flashlights on her face.
Gaines was struck twice on the shoulder and once on the face, she said. And through the flickering lights, she was able to make out that the assaulter was a man who identified as a woman, from the person’s feminine clothing.
Amid the chaos, a woman grabbed Gaines and asked Gaines to follow her. Even though Gaines didn’t know the woman’s identity, following her appeared the best option at the time. Gaines later found out that the woman was an undercover campus officer.
