Houston area leaders will gather Monday evening for a rally and prayer vigil in an effort to bring detained WNBA star Brittney Griner home.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee will be joined by Mayor Sylvester Turner and others outside of the Toyota Center, as it’s been nearly four months since Griner was detained in Russia.
The rally will take place at 6 p.m. outside of the arena and feature special guests and music.
In May, Brittney Griner appeared for a brief hearing handcuffed, her dreadlocks covered in a red hoodie and her face held low. The judge prolonged her detention until mid-June for her drug possession trial.
Griner, 31, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at the Moscow airport back in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage. If convicted, she could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The Biden administration says the Houston native who played college ball at Baylor is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and U.S. officials have worked toward her release without visible progress.
Brittney Griner can’t play with her WNBA colleagues. She can’t call them, either. But she can write them.
In one small bit of normalcy, Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players during her detainment in Russia.
Hundreds of emails have been sent by players to an account Griner’s agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.
It’s not easy: The emails are printed out and delivered sporadically in bunches to Griner by her lawyer after they are vetted by Russian officials.
Brittney Griner doesn’t have access to the email account; she’ll either write a response on paper and her lawyers will take a photo of it or she’ll dictate a response if she doesn’t have any paper.
Los Angeles Sparks forward Amanda Zahui B. never thought she’d hear back from Griner when she sent an email to the Phoenix Mercury center a few months ago.