Riley Gaines, a swimmer and advocate for restrictions governing competition with transgender athletes, condemned San Francisco State University (SFSU) on Saturday night for the school’s response to protests during which she was reportedly assaulted and trapped in a room for hours.
“I’m sorry did this just say PEACEFUL…I was assaulted. I was extorted and held for [ransom]. The protestors demanded I pay them if I wanted to make it home safely. I missed my flight home because I was barricaded in a classroom…We must have different definitions of peaceful,” Gaines tweeted.
Her comments come in response to SFSU releasing an official statement thanking students “who participated peacefully in Thursday evening’s event.”
After acknowledging that the school “finds itself again at the center of a national discussion regarding freedom of speech and expression,” the school’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, Jamillah Moore, reaffirmed that “the trans community is welcome and belongs at San Francisco State University.” The statement went on to make a glancing reference to the chaos on campus, saying “we may also find ourselves exposed to divergent views and even views we find personally abhorrent. These encounters have sometimes led to discord, anger, confrontation and fear. We must meet this moment and unite with a shared value of learning.”
