Riley Gaines Physically Assaulted By Protestors After Giving Speech About Protecting Women's Sports And Same-Sex Spaces

All eyes were on collegiate swimming when William Thomas changed his name to Lia and suddenly identified as a woman. He was permitted to join the University of Pennsylvania's women's swim team, where he broke multiple female records and won medals by out-swimming his female opponents. The rising popularity of Thomas resulted in a national conversation about preserving women's sports rather than letting it be infiltrated by men who call themselves trans. Former 12-time All-American swimmer Riley Gaines knows what it's like to compete against men, and she spoke out about how important it is to protect same-sex spaces such as women's sports. She was met with physical violence.

Riey Gaines Physically Assaulted by Protestors after Giving Speech About Protecting Women's Sports and Same-Sex Spaces

On Thursday night at San Francisco State University, former NCAA swimmer Riley gave a speech about her experience swimming against Thomas at the Women's NCAA Swimming Championships in 2022. Her mere presence was met with a large group of protesters. She posted a video to her Twitter showing herself being chased by a mob of people, one of whom was loudly screaming in her face, "Trans rights are human rights!" There was no violence caught on tape, but prior to that video, Riley was barricaded in a room for three hours because the protesters were threatening to come after her and harm her.

While they were in the room, she told her husband that she was assaulted. "She told me she was hit multiple times by a guy in a dress. I was shaking. It made me that mad. It makes me sick to feel so helpless about it," her husband Louis Barker said. "She was under police protection and was still hit by a man wearing a dress."

"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," she tweeted. "Still only further assures me I'm doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder."

There was also footage of SFSU students essentially holding Riley as a hostage and demanding money for her safe release. "Tell her to pay us," one person in the crowd said. They said they wouldn't let her leave the campus safely unless they were given something in return.

She eventually made her way off campus, but only by running to safety and barely escaping the mob. Riley's agent Eli Bremer released a statement to Fox News Digital:

"In the past year, her goal in speaking at universities has been to educate her peers about her experience and what the impact of the growing number of biological males in women’s sports will do to the integrity of Title IX. She has been questioned in civil and somewhat uncivil manners about her views many times, and she thoroughly encourages diverse viewpoints and debate on this issue."

"Instead of a thoughtful discussion tonight at SFSU, Riley was violently accosted, shouted at, physically assaulted, and barricaded in a room by protestors. It is stunning that in America in 2023, it is acceptable for biological male students to violently assault a woman for standing up for women’s rights."

Allegedly, the man in the dress who assaulted Riley also screamed at her and called her a "f*cking b*tch." Many people are quick to point out that a man has gotten away with assaulting a woman; no arrests have been made yet, according to police.

Staff of Turning Point USA, conservative organization that hosted her event, were also escorted off campus after they were held up by protesters. The assistant dean, Chris Trudell, was seen trying to deescalate the situation, which is when the students demanded money in exchange for Riley's safe passage.

Police at SFSU announced they are investigating what happened on Thursday night, but very few people have faith that anyone will be held accountable for these actions.