Riley Gaines was attacked by a mob of pro-trans protestors on Thursday night during a “Save Women’s Sports” event at San Francisco State University (SFSU), which was exacerbated by a lack of safety planning by the University. During the incident, Gaines was allegedly hit by a biologically male transgender protestor.
Gaines was hosted by the California public university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter, and the event was funded by the Leadership Institute, the parent organization of Campus Reform.
One of the members of TPUSA, Navid Mehdipour, told Campus Reform, that the SFSU campus police did not have a plan in place to protect Gaines and the attendees of the event.
[RELATED: ‘Moral versus evil’: Riley Gaines speaks out at the University of Pittsburgh]
Mehdipour, a SFSU student organizer of the event, told Campus Reform that the club had received threats of violence, including the use of bricks and baseball bats, directed towards Gaines and themselves for nearly a month since the announcement of the event.
The event was “mostly peaceful,” Mehdipour said, until the end of the event when the mob of protestors from outside the building stormed into the venue.
Footage from the student news organization Golden Gate Xpress shows Gaines being escorted out of the event space into the greenroom by security at 8:31 PM local time as the protestors chanted “Trans women are women.” One protestor is captured on film screaming “F*** you! Trans rights are human rights!”
Riley Gaines has been escorted out of the event into a side hallway in the HSS Building. Students were following through “trans women are women” 8:31 p.m pic.twitter.com/rGaTvrje17
— Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) April 7, 2023 ft:0in;”>
TPUSA members were also escorted by security away from the scene half an hour later.
Gaines was trapped inside the green room space for nearly three hours, according to the New York Post.
Late on Thursday night, Gaines tweeted, “The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU … I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces.”
Gaines is referring to a trans-woman (biological man), whose identity has not yet been made known.
The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU…I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. 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. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/uJW3x9RERf
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 7, 2023 ft:0in;”>
Mehdipour says that SFSU campus police did not have a safe exit plan for Gaines, which forced her to be sequestered in the green room until the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) arrived on the scene.
Coverage from the Golden Gate Xpress shows SFPD officers on the scene by 8:47 PM local time, preventing the protestors from entering the green room.
The Assistant Dean of Students, Chris Trudell, addressed the crowd at approximately 9:50 PM, saying, “I want to offer that this conversation that we’re having as a community, as a campus can continue.”
Protesters are still gathered in the hallways at 9:50 p.m. Chris Trudell, Assistant Dean of Students addresses the crowds concern about allowing @TPUSA on campus. #SFSTATE pic.twitter.com/6J1tW9yI3B
— Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) April 7, 2023 ft:0in;”>
In response, one student in the crowd demanded that Gaines pay the protestors to be able to leave. “She probably got paid for this s***, so we can get paid too,” said the protestor.
At 11:21 PM, SFPD declared the protest an unlawful assembly, saying that any protestors who remained would arrested. Gaines was escorted off the premises by SFPD at 11:38 PM.
[RELATED: Riley Gaines: Transgender issues are about the ‘sheer essence of humanity’]
Jon Root, national-level TPUSA contributor, told Campus Reform, “Riley Gaines (Barker) is one of the most courageous women in the country. From the moment she stood tall on the same podium with a biological man, Lia Thomas at the NCAA swimming championships, she’s been a warrior for women’s sports, fairness and equality. Truth is hate to those that hate the truth.”
In Gaines’ Twitter announcement of the incident, she stated that the ordeal “only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder.”
Gaines and SFSU have been contacted for comment. This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.
This article includes supplemental reporting from Campus Reform Correspondent Logan Dubil.
Follow Gabrielle M. Etzel on Twitter.
Republished with permission from Campus Reform
