Images of Brittney Griner and other detained Americans projected around New York City

Friday night, large images of 19 wrongfully detained Americans, including WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, appeared on the sides of buildings in New York City as meetings of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly ended. Griner has been detained in Russia since February after attempting to enter the country to play basketball with her overseas team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. She has played with the team since 2014. She was arrested after customs officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

From a Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) press release:

The emotionally compelling projections of each American spotlighted their individual stories,
their pain and anguish, their heroism and their importance to their families and to all Americans.
Between each image were messages to President Biden reminding him that the families of
detainees and Americans generally were counting on him and his Administration to bring them
home.
“Make no mistake, seeing their images on buildings is powerful, but we would much rather see
them HOME, on American soil, with their families,” said Terri Carmichael Jackson, WNBPA
Executive Director.
The images projected on Madison Square Garden and in neighborhoods in Chelsea, Midtown
East, the West Village, SOHO and Union Square were first displayed this past summer in Isaac
Campbell’s Washington, D.C. mural for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign. They are
designed to remind people of the community that surrounds these Americans, their humanity, as
well as the advocacy needed for their collective release.
Jackson continued: “Our sister Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia for 219
days (as of September 24). We support the Biden Administration to do whatever is necessary to
bring BG, Paul Whelan and all wrongfully detained Americans home.”