USA Fencing responds to federal investigation over transgender competitor incident

Education Secretary Linda McMahon discusses the Trump administration’s actions on transgender athletes in women’s sports on ‘The Faulkner Focus.’

USA Fencing has acknowledged a forthcoming federal investigation into an incident that occurred at one of its events where a women's fencer was punished for refusing to face a transgender competitor. 

The investigation, which will be carried out by the newly-formed Title IX investigations team in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice, was announced on Friday by Education Secretary Linda McMahon. 

The incident, which occurred at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland on March 30, saw female fencer Stephanie Turner take a knee in protest of trans competitor Redmond Sullivan. Turner was then disqualified from the event and escorted out of the venue.

USA Fencing provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying it will cooperate with the investigation. 

"USA Fencing will respond and cooperate to any inquiry as required by law," the statement read. 

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The incident involving Turner quickly drew national attention after a video of her taking a knee to protest Sullivan went viral. The footage ignited widespread awareness and backlash against USA Fencing's gender eligibility policies. 

Turner told Fox News Digital that she came to the decision to take the knee the night before the event, when she checked the competition pools and saw that she would be competing against Sullivan.

"I saw that I was going to be in a pool with Redmond, and from there I said, ‘OK, let’s do it. I'm going to take the knee,'" Turner said. "I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections