Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines said police are playing into a “double standard” by dropping her case against protesters.
Gaines appeared on Hannity Thursday to offer further details about the incident last April, when Gaines was giving a speech at a Turning Point USA event at San Francisco State University. Suddenly protesters stormed in, interrupted the event with chants, and flicked the lights on and off. Gaines was led away by a police officer, and she told authorities that she was held for hours in a room while protesters demanded a ransom. San Francisco police have since informed Gaines that they are dropping the case because her allegations are “unfounded.”
“Let it be known the officer who reached out to me saying that the charges were unfounded, she was in the room being held for ransom with me. So it’s almost objectively funny. It’s almost comical, the irony, the double standard, the hypocrisy of this. And this is coming from the same side who claims words are violence,” Gaines said. “Now when we’re actually presented with violence, that’s not enough to charge the university or the individual students or even the police department for that matter?”
According to Gaines, the four hours she spent as a hostage alongside the officer were “terrifying,” and she said, “I felt like my life was at risk.”
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“But when there are no consequences, this will only continue,” Gaines said. “The Department of Justice, especially the officers at the San Francisco State University Police Department — they are setting the precedent. And the precedent that’s being set, not just for conservatives or conservatives speaking on college campuses but for everyone, is that, look, they won’t condemn violence against women and they won’t uphold our First Amendment rights, our freedom of speech.”
Gaines rose to fame after tying for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at a national swimming championship. Since then, she has become an advocate who has spoken out against transgender athletes in women’s sports and is also the host of OutKick’s Gaines for Girls podcast.
