Related Post
Brittney Griner has been heckled about a prisoner swap which saw a notorious arms dealer handed over to Russia so she could be freed after smuggling weed into Moscow.
The WNBA star, 32, was confronted by conservative YouTube star Alex Stein at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport Saturday.
Stein said: ‘Hey Britt, do you still wanna… do you still wanna boycott America?
‘What about the Merchant of Death, Brittney?’
Griner did not appear to respond to the heckling, although a woman in her group could be heard calling Stein a ‘weirdo.’ He was held back from the controversial star by a male security guard.
Stein’s questions referred to Griner’s previous assertion that sports players should not have to stand for the national anthem ahead of games. She stopped doing so herself in 2020, following George Floyd’s murder, but has since changed her mind and resumed doing so.
The ‘Merchant of Death’ remark referred to arms dealer Viktor Bout. He was being held in a US jail for stoking some of the world’s worst conflicts, but was freed and flown to Russia on a private jet in exchange for Griner’s freedom.
Griner (center) could be seen walking through the airport with her Phoenix Mercury team
A conservative influencer heckled WNBA star Brittney Griner at Dallas Airport on Saturday
Griner was busted with weed cartridges at Moscow airport in February 2022, while traveling to Russia to play for a women’s basketball team there.
Marijuana is totally-illegal in Russia, with Griner subsequently convicted of drug smuggling in October 2022. She claims she had authorization to take the drug medicinally in her native Arizona.
The sportswoman was arrested just before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and news of her imprisonment did not emerge until the following month.
Griner was sentenced to spend nine years in a prison colony, but was freed in December after the Biden administration agreed to release Bout.
Her release sparked mixed reactions. Many said she should never have been jailed for carrying a drug she was legally entitled to use at home.
But critics said Griner should have been more cautious and respectful of Russian laws, and that she should have been well aware of the harsh penalties she’d face for breaking statutes there.
The WNBA and the her team – Phoenix Mercury – are reviewing the incident, which occurred as the team travelled home from their latest game in Dallas on Saturday.
Griner had played hours earlier in the WNBA, and the team were heading home on Saturday
Griner is pictured putting her bag through a scanner after she was approached by a sniffer dog at Moscow airport in February 2022
In a statement on Saturday, the league said it was looking into the team’s run-in with a ‘social media figure’ whose ‘actions were inappropriate and unfortunate.’
‘The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority,’ the league said, without specifying what exactly happened.
Griner and her supporters had lobbied for charter flights after she returned from detainment in Russia, saying the highly publicized case compromised her and others’ safety. The league granted Griner permission to book her own charter flights to road games.
Mercury player Brianna Turner said in a tweet people at the airport followed the team with cameras ‘saying wild remarks.’
Griner spent nearly 10 months in a Russian penal colony for drug smuggling last year
She was involved in a high-profile prisoner swap with ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout (above)
‘Excessive harassment,’ Turner tweeted. ‘Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.’
The WNBA has added charter flights for the playoffs this season, but only a handful of back-to-back regular season games were scheduled for such flights.
WNBA teams have flown commercially during the regular season since the league´s inception in 1997. The league typically doesn’t allow teams to charter because it could create a competitive advantage for teams who can afford to pay for them.
‘Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times,’ the league’s statement reads. ‘We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players.’
Griner is pictured stepping back onto US soil after arriving at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas
The outside of the IK-2 penal colony in the town of Yavas in Mordovia, where Griner was held
The WNBA players’ union issued a statement Saturday, saying the situation at the airport makes it ‘quite clear that the matter of charter travel is NOT a ‘competitive advantage’ issue.’
‘What BG and all of her PHX teammates experienced today was a calculated confrontation that left them feeling very unsafe,’ the WNBPA statement reads. ‘Everyone who was paying attention knew this would happen.’
The Mercury released a statement saying the team will be working with the league on next steps.
‘We are committed to our support of BG and advocating for all American hostages abroad,’ the team statement reads. ‘We will continue our support of marginalized communities and fighting the kind of hate that targeted us today. No one, regardless of identity, should ever fear for their safety.’
