Although she wasn’t in attendance at the ESPY Awards this past Wednesday, Brittney Griner was on everyone’s minds the day of the broadcast.
As attendees arrived at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, they were greeted by a fleet of mobile billboards we arranged to display messages saying “BG should be here” and “Bring Brittney home.”
The photo above shows the trucks across the street from the Dolby. CNN, CBS, NBC and FOX all mentioned them in their coverage of the ESPYs, and one sent a helicopter to capture aerial footage – a huge win for bringing the fight to television screens across the country.
Many attendees, including Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Megan Rapinoe and ESPYs host Stephen Curry, used their platforms to advocate for Brittney Griner.
“It's been 153 nights now that BG has been wrongfully detained thousands of miles away from home, away from her family, away from her friends, away from her team," said Skylar Diggins-Smith, one of BG’s teammates on the Phoenix Mercury. "All throughout that time, we've kept her in our thoughts and in our hearts even though we know that ain't nearly enough to bring her home, y'all."
This week proved to be a massive inflection point in the campaign to bring Brittney home. Some other updates from earlier this week include:
- According to Change.org, the White House approved the addition of President Biden’s July 6th statement (regarding his conversation with Cherelle Griner) as a response to the petition;
- President Biden also signed an executive order authorizing further sanctions on criminals, terrorists and government officials who wrongfully detain Americans;
- The Bring Our Families Home Campaign unveiled a mural in Washington, D.C. to bring attention to wrongfully detained U.S. citizens abroad, including BG.
Brittney is expected to appear in court again on July 26. We must continue to actively support the White House’s efforts to bring BG home.
Will you take a moment to share this petition with five of your friends? Here’s the link: Change.org/BrittneyGriner