Brittney Griner Makes Surprise Public Appearance at MLK Day March One Month After Prison Release

One month after her release from Russian detention, WNBA star Brittney Griner made a surprise appearance at Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in Phoenix, Arizona.

By Kisha Forde Jan 17, 2023 3:55 PMTags
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Brittney Griner recently made her first public appearance following her release from Russian custody.

A little more than one month after the WNBA star returned to the U.S. after nearly 10 months in Russian detention, Brittney and her wife Cherelle Griner made a surprise appearance at a march in Phoenix, Arizona, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. During the Jan. 16 event, as noted alongside footage shared from the Today show, Brittney said that she was simply "happy to be home."

It's a sentiment the Phoenix Mercury star echoed after her Dec. 8 release as part of a prisoner swap that saw the U.S. return Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout—who was 11 years into a 25-year prison sentence—back to Russia.

Her appearance at the march came almost one year after her February 2022 arrest at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for allegedly possessing vape cartridges that contained cannabis oil in her luggage.

Brittney was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court in August and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Four months after the verdict, she was transferred to a penal colony in Russia's Mordovia region.

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"It feels so good to be home," Brittney captioned a series of photos of herself stepping off a plane shared to Instagram Dec. 16. "The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help."

She went to thank those who assisted in getting her released, and shared her outlook on the road ahead.

"I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season," she continued. "And in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you' to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon."

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