Riley Gaines has been told that there will be no charges filed against the persons who assaulted and illegally detained her after giving a speech at San Francisco State University in April 2023.
Despite video evidence and multiple eyewitnesses, including police officers, the University Police Department released a statement saying, “UPD conducted an investigation and after interviewing involved parties and reviewing available video footage found that claims of crimes committed were unfounded.”
Gaines had been hit by one protester and was trapped in a classroom for several hours by a mob of pro-transgender students after her speech which caused her to miss her flight. The mob shouted obscenities and demanded a ransom for Gaines to leave. She eventually left the building under a heavy police escort.
The champion swimmer from the University of Kentucky and the leading voice for women’s sports was thrust into the national spotlight after competing against the University of Pennsylvania’s transgender athlete Lia Thomas. Thomas, a biological male, was allowed to swim for the women’s team and broke several school records in the women’s division. As a male, William Thomas was ranked number 462 in the NCAA men’s division, but swimming in the women’s division, won the NCAA championship in the 500-meter freestyle.
Female athletes speak out against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
pic.twitter.com/7iIHxgklPa— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 12, 2024
Gaines swam against Thomas in the 2022 NCAA championships and they tied for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle, but Thomas was awarded the trophy in the ceremony. When Gaines questioned the NCAA official as to why Thomas received the trophy, he only said, “We have to give the trophy to Lia.”
Thomas was allowed to use the women’s locker room which made Gaines and other biological female swimmers uncomfortable. She describes the swimming locker rooms as a place without modesty as swimmers put on their skin-tight suits. Gaines verified that Thomas as a “6’4” fully intact biological male.”
To advocate for the integrity of women’s sports, Gaines travels the U.S. speaking to various groups. She has testified before Congressional committees and spoke at conservative events on college campuses. When dropping the investigation on her assault at San Francisco State, UPD added insult to injury by thanking the protesters for remaining peaceful.
