Lawsuit was filed on behalf of Turning Point USA at the University of New Mexico
University suspends probe into Riley Gaines assault by protesters
OutKick contributor Riley Gaines joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss a NY county's executive order protecting women's sports and San Francisco State University suspending its probe of confrontation between Gaines and protesters.
The University of New Mexico (UNM) is being sued in federal court due to the "hefty" security fee imposed on an event held by conservative students.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) filed a federal lawsuit against UNM for attempting to charge students over $5,000 in security fees for hosting women’s sports activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines as a speaker. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Turning Point USA chapter at the university and the Leadership Institute, an organization that supports conservative student organizations with event planning.
Gaines, the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute and a former Division I athlete who competed against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, was set to speak "about her experience competing against a transgender athlete" and as someone "who advocates for the protection of women’s opportunities in sports."
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines is sworn in during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Gaines being billed to speak for the TPUSA chapter prompted UNM to inform students that the event would require heavy security presence and provided an initial quote of over $10,000 to cover a security fee.
SLF sent UNM a letter before the event warning them that imposing security fees or costs based on an assumption of how people would react to a person’s speech violates the First Amendment.
They added that making such judgments on speakers’ viewpoints is "never constitutional." According to the complaint, SLF argued that UNM officials "engaged in viewpoint and content discrimination when they required Plaintiffs to bear the cost of security based on the officials’ subjective assessment of the crowd’s potential reaction to Ms. Gaines’ speech."
However, UNM billed the Leadership Institute and the TPUSA campus group $5,384 to cover the security fees despite the letter.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) filed a federal lawsuit against the university for attempting to charge the UNM Turning Point USA (TP-UNM) chapter over $5000 in security fees for hosting Riley Gaines as a speaker. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of TP-UNM and the Leadership Institute, an organization that support student organizations with event planning and funding. (Google Images)
"The invoice showed that twenty-seven officers were on-site, with several officers roaming and even an ‘arrest team’ standing by, even though the event was peaceful and only a few protestors showed up holding signs. UNM also admitted that the university consistently applies higher fees to Turning Point USA events," SLF said in a statement.
RILEY GAINES URGES FEMALE ATHLETES TO BOYCOTT COMPETING AGAINST TRANS GIRLS: ‘DON’T RUN…DON'T SWIM'
TPUSA is the only conservative organization remaining on UNM’s campus, SLF added.
Gaines' presence on college campuses has previously drawn ire from critics and protestors at her speaking events.
Riley Gaines speaks in front of protesters at Penn State. (Riley Gaines)
She previously said she was assaulted and held hostage for ransom in April 2023 after speaking at an event hosted by a conservative campus organization, Turning Point USA, at San Francisco State University.
At the San Franciso State University event, she spoke about her experience in her senior year of college competing against Thomas. The two had tied for fifth place in a national swimming championship.
The San Francisco State University Police Department has since suspended its investigation into the hostage incident and assault last year.
In addition to speaking about her experiences, Gaines is an Outkick contributor and host of 'Gaines for Girls' on Outkick
Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.
Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program.
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