Swimmer Riley Gaines was assaulted on Saturday by transgender activists at San Francisco State University where she arrived to give a speech about protecting women’s sports.
The attack was captured in video footage widely shared on social media. Gaines subsequently threatened legal action against the university.
“The campus police did nothing. The dean of students was there and did nothing. There will be no repercussions unless I have something to do with it,” Gaines said after the incident, as reported by The New York Post.
“I will be pursuing legal action. These people need to face repercussions,” she added.
Gaines also blasted the attacks in a Twitter post following the altercation on the university campus.
“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.”
Gaines is a former NCAA swimmer and All-American who has become known for speaking out to protect women’s sports from men who seek to compete in women’s sports as transgender athletes.
No arrests have been made following the incident. Gaines was reportedly barricaded in a “safe room” for three hours.
The former University of Kentucky swimmer grew in national notoriety after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas last year in a national competition. Gaines tied for fifth place with Thomas in the 200-meter freestyle competition.
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Gaines later appeared on Fox News with Tucker Carlson where she expressed concerns over being forced to share a locker room with Thomas during the competition.
“That’s not something we were forewarned about, which I don’t think is right in any means, changing in a locker room with someone who has different parts,” Gaines told Carlson during the interview.
The controversy over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports has led to laws being passed in several GOP-led states to ban men who identify as women from girls’ and women’s sports. More than 20 states have passed or proposed such bans.
