Riley Gaines blasts SF State faculty member who called protests at heart of incident ‘peaceful’

NCAA champion swimmer Riley Gaines, who has gained national attention after criticizing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, hit out at a San Francisco State University faculty member after an email was sent to students which described as “peaceful” a protest after her speech Thursday which turned violent. 

Gaines said she was verbally and physically assaulted by the pro-transgender protesters, which led to her being barricaded in a classroom for three hours. Gaines also noted that she was punched, shoved and hit by the protesters before locking herself in the classroom.  San Francisco police would later attend to escort Gaines off the campus. 

But SF State’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, Jamillah Moore, sent an email which did not apologize to Gaines.

Let me begin by saying clearly: the trans community is welcome and belongs at San Francisco State University. Further, our community fiercely believes in unity, connection, care and compassion, and we value different ideas even when they are not our own. Jamillah Moore

Thank you to our students who participated peacefully in Thursday evening’s event. It took tremendous bravery to stand in a challenging space. I am proud of the moments where we listened and asked insightful questions. 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.

Gaines strongly disagreed with this version of events.

I’m sorry did this just say PEACEFUL…. I was assaulted. I was extorted and held for ransom (sic). The protestors demanded I pay them if I wanted to make it home safely. I missed my flight home because I was barricaded in a classroom…

We must have different definitions of peaceful.

Gaines also stated that Moore blocked her on Twitter.

I guess it’s easier for her to ignore me than to denounce violence against women. She won’t be able to ignore my lawsuit.

If the situation had been peaceful, Gaines said she would “actually welcome it.” But it got to a level she couldn’t bear. 

I was grateful to see a diverse crowd in the room during my speech which I expressed multiple times. We had great dialogue and listened to each other. But that ambush was the opposite of peaceful.

Gaines spoke to Fox News host Tucker Carlson and explained that she won’t be backing down with her mission of saving women’s sports, and situations like the one that happened at SF State, though “terrifying,” won’t steer her off track. 

“This does not deter me. This assures me that I am doing the right thing,” she said Friday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “This will not silence me. When they want me to be silenced, it just means I need to speak louder.”

Gaines said she will identify those who assaulted her and press charges.

“They will face repercussions,” she said.