Brittney Griner pleads guilty: Megan Rapinoe honors her at White House
On Thursday, July 7 2022 just hours before Megan Rapinoe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, WNBA player Brittney Griner, who has been detained in a Russian prison on drug charges, pleaded guilty to said charges. Rapinoe, clearly up in arms about the charges against Griner, wore a suit to the ceremony with Griner’s initials and a flower embroidered onto the lapel.
Megan Rapinoe is the first soccer player to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and can be counted among the very few female athletes ever in history as well. Gymnastics legend and multiple Olympic medal winner Simone Biles was also in attendance at the July 7 ceremony and joined the list of female athletes as well.
Despite the fact that the Presidential Medal of Honor is a very big deal, Megan Rapinoe took to social media and chose to make the moment about Brittney Giner instead. Rapinoe posted a close-up of the embroidered lapel on her Instagram account with a caption that read “the most important part of today.” And although the post was published in her stories and is no longer available, the embroidery can be seen in the post she made about the event.
Brittney Giner was detained at a Russian airport in February for allegedly having her vape cartridge with hashish oil in her luggage. On July 7, she pleaded guilty in court, stating that “I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law”.
Griner is scheduled to appear in court again on July 14. If she is convicted, the WNBA player faces up to a decade in a Russian prison. At the time of her arrest, Griner wrote President Biden a letter begging him not to forget about her. Biden responded with a letter of his own professing his support, which Griner has allegedly received.
Griner’s legal team stated that they hoped by Griner taking full responsibility, the courts would consider the inconsequential amount of the substance she had in her possession, and the positive contribution she has had on Russian sport would lead to a lesser sentence.
Megan Rapinoe released a statement after the Presidential ceremony (also on Instagram stories) after Griner’s plea was entered.
“BG is being used as a political pawn and we need to bring her home immediately. This plea doesn’t change that @potus needs to and is working hard to get her home. From what I understand she had to plea to keep the process of getting her home asap in motion. BG we are with you.”
Stay tuned for more information as the July 14 court appearance approaches.
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