WNBA star Brittney Griner accosted at Dallas-Fort Worth airport by right-wing YouTuber
YouTube provocateur Alex Stein harassed star WNBA player Brittney Griner in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday.
Stein approached the Phoenix Mercury star player, a Texas native who was detained in Russia for nearly 10 months, and pushed a security guard, according to a police report obtained by ESPN.
He asked Griner if she had sex with Russian President Vladamir Putin to secure her release in December.
The Russian government detained Griner in February 2022 after she was found with a gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Griner’s detainment was politicized due to her previous protest of the national anthem over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Griner was released in a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout, known colloquially as the Merchant of Death.
Stein later posted a 90-second clip to YouTube which showed him asking several questions to Griner while a member of Phoenix Mercury security stood in between them.
Stein rose to fame by rapping about COVID-19 in scrubs during a Dallas City Council meeting and appearances on right-wing shows like The Alex Jones Show and Tucker Carlson Tonight.
The security personnel member that Stein allegedly pushed declined to press charges.
The incident reignited conversations about how WNBA teams travel commercially. New York Liberty forward player Breanna Stewart among others has previously stated their desire for the WNBA to charter flights for players due to player safety and health concerns.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and addressed the incident, saying the league had a hybrid commercial/charter system in place for the Mercury in acknowledgment of the polarization that surrounds Griner.
