College swimming champion Riley Gaines had to be barricaded in a room at the San Francisco State University on Thursday night after she was physically assaulted by a group of trans activists following a speech to students about saving women's sports. The horrifying assault took place at a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute event on the university campus.
Gaines, 23, filmed herself being ambushed by the screaming trans activists, while she remained barricaded in the university room. Gaines' husband, Louis Barker, claimed that during the roughly three hours that she was barricaded in the room, he had brief conversations with her.
Ambushed Like a Villain
Gained had to barricade herself in the room for almost three hours to save herself after being inhumanly assaulted by a group of trans activists. One of the attackers was a man in a dress.
"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," Barker said.
"She was under police protection and was still hit by a man wearing a dress."
Gaines shared a video she took of herself on Twitter where she is seen being dragged out of the venue by police in the midst of a barrage of verbal abuse from her critics.
"The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU...I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man," Gaines wrote in the tweet.
"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."
While Gaines addressed the students, many of whom voiced disagreement with her ideas other videos from the event showed the swimmer's statements being drowned out by a group of pro-trans demonstrators who had become increasingly loud outside the room.
"Tonight, Riley Gaines spoke at San Francisco State University to share her personal story of competing against a biological male athlete, Lia Thomas, at the Women's NCAA Swimming Championships last year," Eli Bremer, Gaines' agent, told Fox News Digital in a lengthy statement.
"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.
"This will not stop Riley from boldly educating people of the dangers of biological males in women's sports. She will continue to speak the truth against the radical left that no longer understands the difference between men and women."
Unexpected Attack
The attack was pre-planned by was unexpected for Gaines. Golden Gate Xpress, the university's student-run publication, said that a small protest had begun before Gaines' arrival on Thursday night.
Further footage revealed the protest was expanding. Gaines had to be led by cops out of the room and down a hallway before being barricaded in another room as the chaos reached its apex.
Protesters were seen hanging transgender flags from walls while yelling "go the f**k home" and "trans women are women" as she was being transported to a safer area.
In some of the photos shared by the outlet, TPUSA employees could be seen being restrained and led away from the protest site.
Chris Trudell, the assistant dean of students, was reportedly spotted intervening and attempting to defuse the situation. The counter-protest to Gaines' lecture, according to a TPUSA representative, was "organized by SFSU's Queer and Trans Resource Center."
The spokeswoman claimed that when the session was over, the angry protesters outside the room "rushed in."
Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer, rose to prominence after she vocally disapproved of transgender athlete Lia Thomas competing in women's sports. Several athletes have warned that biological men clearly have an advantage over biological women in competition. One such athlete is Nancy Hogshead-Makar.
