LGBTQ+
Portland Police say five people were arrested in demonstrations near PSU’s Smith Memorial Student Union
Student groups rally on the Portland State University campus in Portland, May 5, 2025, protesting an event featuring speaker Riley Gaines.
Tiffany Camhi / OPB
An appearance by a former athlete on a speaking tour drew dozens of protesters to the Portland State University campus — a part of the city that has had extensive protests in recent years, including the occupation a year ago of the campus library over the war in Gaza.
Portland Police say they made five arrests at demonstrations outside the event featuring former collegiate swimmer and conservative activist Riley Gaines.
Gaines was a nationally-ranked swimmer at the University of Kentucky and has emerged as an outspoken opponent of transgender women competing in women’s sports. She spoke at PSU’s Smith Memorial Student Union, as part of a nationwide tour touting the Trump Administration’s Title IX policies.
The ticketed event started at 6:30 p.m., with private security letting attendees into the locked-down building. A peaceful student-led protest of close to 150 people, just outside the hall on the South Park Blocks, began a half-hour earlier.
For about 90 minutes students led chants, waved blue, pink and white flags and gave speeches in support of the rights of transgender people.
Demonstrators outside the Smith Memorial Student Union where conservative speaker Riley Gaines is speaking on the Portland State University campus in Portland, May 5, 2025.
Tiffany Camhi / OPB
About a dozen officers on Portland Police Bureau’s Rapid Response Team monitored the rally from afar.
A second, smaller protest unaffiliated with the student groups who staged the earlier demonstration formed later in the night. About 40 protesters crowded around the hall’s Southwest Broadway entrance, graffitied the building’s glass doors and attempted to open the locked doors.
Several Portland Police Bureau officers surrounded a man during an arrest at Portland State University May 5, 2025. Protesters opposed a campus speaking event for conservative activist Riley Gaines.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Confrontations between protesters and PPB officers became tense at times. Several of the officers wore riot gear and helmets, as some protesters wore masks over their faces, in a scene reminiscent of clashes between demonstrators and police during the summer of 2020.
At around 8 p.m., attendees of the event began to leave the hall through a side exit. Protesters heckled those leaving.
OPB reporter Troy Brynelson contributed to this story.
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