Riley Gaines Plans To Sue San Francisco State University After Trans Activists Held Her For 'Ransom'
April 10 2023, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Former collegiate swimmer and anti-trans women in sports activist Riley Gaines said she's planning to take legal action against San Fransisco State University and campus police. The former college athlete claimed that unruly protestors disrupted her on-campus event, assaulted her, and forced her to barricade herself in a room for hours, where she was held for "ransom," RadarOnline.com has learned.
Gaines spoke to a room of about 75 people at SFU about competing against Lia Thomas, the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who transitioned during college.
After the university sent an email praising the actions of "peaceful protestors," Gaines said the school administration and campus police need to be held accountable for not protecting her safety.
A video captured part of the chaos during Gaines' event at the campus on Thursday night. As Gaines addressed the crowd about her experience competing against "biological males," protestors began yelling and shouting at her.
When Gaines tried to leave the area, she claimed a transgender woman hit her twice in the shoulder and once in the face before a campus police officer escorted her out.
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Riley Gaines has emerged as a far-right advocate against transgender athletes in women's sports.
With the mob still shouting at Gaines over her anti-trans platform, the ex-swimmer and campus police barricaded themselves in a room for about three hours. Gaines claimed the "vengeful" group "demanded money" in exchange for her release, which she labeled "ransom."
While the former athlete said the mob wanted to "fight" her, the San Francisco Police reported no arrests.
The school's Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, Jamillah Moore, later sent an email to students praising their behavior.
Moore told the SFU community that she was "proud" of students who "participated peacefully" — and made it clear that transgender students and athletes were welcomed on campus. Gaines took personal offense to the email — and claimed the event was "quite literally the exact opposite of peaceful."
"Something needs to be done to hold these people accountable, whether it be the student body, the administration . . . They need to realize is that what happened to me was violent, was completely wrong and it was criminal," Gaines told the Daily Mail. "They weren't even peaceful in an alternate universe."
Gaines added that in order to "make changes in regards to protecting freedoms," she would need to go after their "pockets."
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Gaines compared her experience at SFU to visits at other colleges across the country — and claimed that campus police put her in a vulnerable position due to pressure from protestors.
"What I noticed about these police to what they actually admitted to was they didn't feel comfortable asserting themselves in a way that would make them seem as if they were in a position where they could be accused of racism or transphobia," Gaines said of SFU campus police. "They were terrified which resulted in them not doing their job correctly."
"I have been to many other campuses where I have spoken about this same topic and campus police did a phenomenal job," the anti-trans in sports activist continued, as she claimed no one from the university had reached out since Thursday.
"These people and the administration and the campus police, truthfully, deserve to have repercussions."
