Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines has vowed to sue after she was assaulted at San Francisco State University
FILE PHOTO © Getty Images / Andy Buchanan
An administrator at San Francisco State University has defended the actions of student protesters after women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines was allegedly assaulted during a Turning Point USA event on campus on Thursday. She released a statement on Saturday praising the mob for “demonstrat[ing] the value of free speech and the right to protest peacefully.”
Thanking the “students who participated peacefully,” SFSU Vice President for student affairs and enrollment management Jamillah Moore offered “counseling and psychological services” to students who needed to “reflect, process and begin to heal” after hounding Gaines off campus. “It took tremendous bravery to stand in such a challenging space,” she wrote.
After speaking at the event, Gaines, who has campaigned against the entry of transgender women into women’s sports since being forced to share a locker room with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, was trapped on the SFSU campus for three hours, missing her flight home “because it was not safe to leave,” she told Campus Reform on Tuesday.
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
“These ‘peaceful’ protestors stormed into the classroom where I was explaining why sex-protected sports are necessary for fairness and safety and ambushed me,” Gaines said.
Protesters allegedly demanded money in exchange for her safe passage, and she was repeatedly hit by an individual she believes to be a biological male. Video of her attempted escape posted to social media shows a crowd of people shrieking slogans, including “trans rights are human rights,” while pursuing her through classrooms and hallways.
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When Gaines expressed shock that the school could describe the protesters’ actions as “peaceful,” Moore allegedly blocked her on Twitter. She posted a screenshot of the block screen, warning that Moore “won’t be able to ignore my lawsuit.”
The riot at SFSU attracted the attention of conservative legislators, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who described it as “an appalling attack on free speech on a college campus” and pledged House Republicans’ support.
Increasingly aggressive protests at conservative events have exerted a noticeable chilling effect. Last month, Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh, whose recent film famously asked ‘What is a woman’? canceled speaking events at Washington and Lee University “due to threats against [his] family.”
Conservative commentators are not the only ones being pressured into silence – economist and transgender woman Deirdre McCloskey recently backed out of a debate with anti-trans conservative Michael Knowles scheduled for this month at the University of Pittsburgh after 11,000 people signed a petition to cancel the event.
