Basketball star and olympian Brittney Griner has been detained in a Russian jail for over 100 days after being accused of smuggling an oil-type narcotic inside a vape in her luggage. Griner was first taken into custody while traveling through a Russian airport due to her participation in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA offseason.
Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a press conference calling for Griner’s release and bringing further attention to the issue. She is also holding a prayer vigil in Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas.
“The actions taken were enormously suspicious. And from the very beginning, I asked for the State Department to be engaged. I knew that our State Department’s engagement would be key to finding out the truth,” Jackson Lee said.
Since her detention, there’ve been constant calls and pleas for the White House to intervene on Griner’s behalf.
Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Correspondent Ebony McMorris’s report:
