EXCLUSIVE — Riley Gaines spoke to the Washington Examiner about the moment dominating headlines. Gaines said she was attacked and hit by a man twice during a speech at San Francisco State University, all for saying, “Men and women are different.” Now, she is taking steps to prosecute and believes the Biden administration is also to blame.
“It is a bit chilling,” Gaines said. “It’s a bit unnerving to think about what people are willing to do these days to silence you.”
The 12x NCAA All-American swimmer and spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum is going around the country to make speeches to “save women’s sports” from allowing biological men to participate on female sports teams.
As the Turning Point USA-hosted event was wrapping up on April 6 on SFSU’s campus, protesters flushed into the room, the lights were cut, and Gaines was ambushed by a tumultuous crowd. In videos captured by Gaines and the university newspaper, police were seen escorting her to a room, where protesters barricaded her inside for three hours. When campus officials tried to ask them to leave, rioters reportedly asked for a ransom.
RILEY GAINES WHISKED TO SAFETY AFTER BEING ASSAULTED AT SAN FRANCISCO EVENT
“I believe there needs to be accountability taken,” Gaines said. “Whether from the administration, the campus police department … whether that be, of course, against the protesters who verbally and physically assaulted me.”
When asked if she could identify her attacker, Gaines said she was not sure because, as the protesters entered the room, they turned off the lights. Gaines told the Washington Examiner she is in the process of acquiring the CCTV footage and police body camera footage to see if the alleged assault was caught on video.
“Never once was I prepared to be ambushed in the way that I was,” Gaines said. “I have more adequate security now, which is something I never even thought I would need for simply saying, ‘Men and women are different.'”
Just hours before Gaines’s speech, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “LGBTQI kids are resilient, they are fierce, they fight back, and they are not going anywhere. We have their back, this administration has their back.”
“I think the press secretary, the administration that’s in the White House right now, has a lot of blame for these tactics the Left has been using to silence people,” Gaines said.
She remembers, during her speech, the hecklers using the exact same verbiage as the press secretary. People can be heard screaming outside the door, “Trans rights are under attack,” and, “What do we do? We fight back.”
“You can’t help but see the resemblance,” Gaines said. “The almost irony behind it. The press secretary says this, and now they’re saying the same words, the same day I’m ambushed.”
She said she believes the rhetoric and precedent set by the White House’s support of transgender people in sports also influenced the reaction from the SFSU president.
“The event was deeply traumatic for many in our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, and the speaker’s message outraged many members of the SF State community who value inclusion and social justice,” SFSU President Lynn Mahoney wrote to students in an open letter. “I applaud the students, staff and faculty who rallied quickly to host alternative inclusive events, protest peacefully and provide one another with support at a difficult moment.”
“We must have different definitions of peaceful,” Gaines responded.
Gaines said she believes the president should have instead come out condemning the violence, telling students the importance of upholding free speech, even if it’s something they don’t agree with.
“They’re saying I’m the one who’s spreading the violence?” Gaines exclaimed. “We know that’s not true. If you saw these videos, you know that’s not the case.”
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
While the ordeal left her shaken up, the event garnered Gaines a wider audience and more attention than ever before. Her social media following quadrupled almost overnight. She is getting support from members of the media, big names such as Elon Musk, and lawmakers. There are now trucks going across San Francisco with her face on them and with videos of what happened. In a way, the attack has given her an even larger platform.
“They were trying to silence me. But it totally backfired,” Gaines said. “It’s crazy. I think it’s almost kind of comical it backfired in such a way.”
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But she said her mission is not complete.
“This is something I pray about every day,” Gaines said. “It’s so important to me to engage with people my age. We need these people to open their eyes to the damage, the irrefutable damage, that’s being done, not just by not protecting women’s sports but by not allowing free speech. I’m encouraging others to feel comfortable using their voice. That’s what I’m going to continue doing. Outside of that, I’m not sure, but I know this is why I was put in this position. This is why I have the platform that I have.”
