A new mural in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. features WNBA star Brittney Griner and 17 other Americans who are wrongfully detained around the world.
The Bring Our Families Home Campaign, comprised of family members of Americans who are considered “wrongfully detained,” organized and sponsored the mural.
Artist Isaac Campbell told USA Today Sports, “I think that in a lot of ways, when you see a mural like this, where you’re showing faces of people you’ve never seen before, how do you get a viewer to connect with them?”
Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February 17 on drug charges.
She is currently on trial and if convicted of “large-scale transportation of drugs” she could face up to 10 years behind bars in Russia.
President Joe Biden has promised to do everything in his power to get Brittney back on U.S. soil, but her family is still awaiting her return.
The mural also includes Emad Shargi, who was taken during a business trip to Iran in 2018, and Paul Rusesabagina, the subject of the film, Hotel Rwanda, who was illegally detained in Kigali in August 2020.
Luke Denman, Alirio Zambrano, Morad Tahbaz, Mark Swidan, Jose Angel Pereira, Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Matthew Heath, Majd Kamalmaz, Airan Berry, Paul Whelan, Shahab Dalili, and Kai Li are also included in the mural.
Brittney’s family was not in attendance for the unveiling of the mural because they are in Los Angeles for the ESPY awards where they will be honored on Wednesday night (July 20).
But, members of the New York Liberty and coach Sandy Brondello were in attendance to show their support.
Sending my love and prayers to all of the families who are longing for the return of their loved ones.
