Nearly 1,200 prominent Black women signed a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris urging the administration to secure Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian prison, an escalation of a pressure campaign by the WNBA star’s supporters that comes as her trial proceeds in a court outside Moscow.
The letter arrived one day after a letter to Biden from the Phoenix Mercury center, handwritten from her cell, was delivered to the White House on Independence Day. In Griner’s letter, excerpts of which were released by her agents, she wrote, “I’m terrified I might be here forever,” and asked Biden to do “whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”
Asked for comment on Griner’s letter to Biden, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, told The Washington Post: “[Biden’s] team is in regular contact with Brittney’s family and we will continue to work to support her family. … The U.S. government continues to work aggressively — using every available means — to bring her home.”
‘Terrified’ Brittney Griner writes to Biden to push for her freedom
Griner, 31, was arrested in February at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow when customs officials allegedly discovered vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. At the time, she was returning to the country to join UMMC Ekaterinburg, the Russian team for which she plays during the WNBA offseason. In early May, the State Department declared Griner’s case a “wrongful detainment,” an official classification that elevated it to the office of the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
Her trial began Friday and is expected to continue Thursday; Griner has yet to enter a plea. She is expected to be found guilty — an estimated 99 percent of Russian criminal trials end in guilty verdicts — and could face up to 10 years in prison.
Following Friday’s hearing, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Elizabeth Rood, who was in attendance, said in a statement that U.S. officials were working “at the highest levels” to bring Griner home. After being able to speak with Griner in the courtroom, Rood said, “She is doing as well as expected under these difficult circumstances.”
Among the women who signed the letter delivered Tuesday were Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.; actress Anika Noni Rose; singer Ledisi; television hosts Shaun Robinson and Sunny Hostin; former acting chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile; former CEO of Black Entertainment Television Debra L. Lee; activist and former NAACP president Hazel Dukes; University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach and three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley; and numerous players, coaches and executives from the WNBA.
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