{"id":1516706,"date":"2022-06-15T08:19:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T12:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1516706"},"modified":"2022-06-15T08:19:49","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T12:19:49","slug":"mercury-state-department-meet-over-wnba-star-brittney-griner-arrest-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mercury-state-department-meet-over-wnba-star-brittney-griner-arrest-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury, State Department Meet Over WNBA Star Brittney Griner Arrest &#038; Detention"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmercury-state-department-meet-over-wnba-star-brittney-griner-arrest-detention%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1516706&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div id=\"speechkit-wrapper\" class=\"speechkit-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">The Phoenix Mercury said Monday the organization and WNBPA staff met with U.S. State Department officials to discuss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/lebron-james-biden-administration-brittney-griner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brittney Griner\u2019s detention in Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">The State Department confirmed the meeting, which also involved officials from its office that advocates for hostages and wrongfully detained Americans. The Biden administration labeled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/russia-wrongfully-detained-brittney-griner-state-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Griner\u2019s case a wrongful detention<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/640\/320\/Brittney-Griner26.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"The decal honoring Brittney Griner at Footprint Center on May 6, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona.\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      The decal honoring Brittney Griner at Footprint Center on May 6, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona.<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mercury players Brianna Turner and Diana Taurasi and head coach Vanessa Nygaard released statements through the team on Griner\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today we had a meeting with the State Department about BG. I\u2019m confident in the State Department and the work that they\u2019re doing. They encouraged us to keep speaking her name, to keep holding them accountable to bring BG back home as soon as possible,&#8221; Turner said.<\/p>\n<p>Taurasi said getting Griner home was the main priority.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/brittney-griner-detention-womens-basketball-hall-of-fame\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BRITTNEY GRINER DETENTION: WOMEN&#8217;S BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES CALL FOR HER RELEASE FROM RUSSIAN PRISON<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/640\/320\/Brittney-Griner-Diana-Taurasi.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"The Mercury&#039;s Brittney Griner watches practice with teammate Diana Taurasi on May 10, 2018, in Phoenix.\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      The Mercury&#8217;s Brittney Griner watches practice with teammate Diana Taurasi on May 10, 2018, in Phoenix.<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(AP Photo\/Matt York, File)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019re here to do whatever we can to amplify and keep BG at the forefront, which is more important than any basketball game and anything else that\u2019s going on in our lives. We want BG to come home as soon as possible. It\u2019s number one on our list,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Nygaard added: &#8220;We are on day 116 since BG has been wrongfully detained. It was great to hear from the State Department that we should continue to amplify that message and that we should continue to press all those who have any influence or power to help bring BG home. She\u2019s our teammate, she\u2019s an American and we want her back home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/sports\/wnba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Griner was arrested in February<\/a> after allegedly trying to bring vape cartridges containing oils derived from cannabis through a Moscow airport. She\u2019s only been seen publicly a few times since.<\/p>\n<p>The Mercury also met with Reps. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., and Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, after their meeting with the State Department.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/640\/320\/Brittney-Griner25.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Mercury center Brittney Griner pauses on the court during the Seattle Storm game, Sept. 3, 2019, in Phoenix.\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      Mercury center Brittney Griner pauses on the court during the Seattle Storm game, Sept. 3, 2019, in Phoenix.<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin, File)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&#038;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&#038;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For the team, coaches and executives at the Mercury, every day without Brittney is a lifetime,&#8221; Stanton said. &#8220;I was glad for the opportunity to share the work we\u2019re doing in Congress to secure Brittney\u2019s release.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p>Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The Phoenix Mercury said Monday the organization and WNBPA staff met with U.S. State Department officials to discuss Brittney Griner\u2019s detention in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1516706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1516706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}