A newly released video shows that police officers were diligently investigating an alleged threatening message left in a hotel room occupied by WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Griner was at the Women Grow Leadership Summit in Maryland back in February when she discovered a disturbing note in her hotel room that read “Gay Baby Jail.”
The Atlanta Dream star was staying at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor when she entered the room and found a piece of duct tape affixed to the wall with the concerning message written on it.
Maryland police launched an investigation, with body camera footage obtained by TMZ Sports capturing their response to the threatening note.
“Law enforcement clearly took Brittney Griner’s ‘Gay Baby Jail’ note concerns seriously,” the outlet writes.
Brittney Griner Investigation Was Launched Over a Misunderstanding
While it’s good to see the police officers doing their due diligence in this case, the entire incident was prompted by a misunderstanding of who was in Brittney Griner’s hotel room before she arrived.
While undoubtedly odd, the message, it turns out, wasn’t a threat against Griner at all. Instead, it was a phrase commonly known in the nerd/gaming community.
According to Know Your Meme, the phrase originated as a humorous term used to refer to a character or person confined to a jail cell, box, or other form of punishment.
Griner, though, dissected all three words and felt they were referencing her. ‘Gay’ because of her preference. ‘Baby’ because she just had a baby boy with her wife, Cherelle. And ‘Jail’ because she once stayed in a Russian prison until she was traded for a notorious arms dealer.
She ultimately canceled the speaking event she was scheduled to attend and left the resort. Police confirmed that there was no ill intent behind the message.
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Hotel Staff Responsible?
If anything, the hotel staff is responsible for the entire escalation of this into a police matter that forced Brittney Griner to flee the area.
How do you clean a room between stays and not pull down a piece of duct tape left by the previous occupants? If that idiotic message is removed, none of this blows out of proportion.
Griner was arrested in Russia in February 2022 on drug charges for possessing cannabis oil. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty, claiming it was an accident. She was released in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap in which the U.S. exchanged her for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The 10-time WNBA All-Star signed a one-year deal with the Dream during the offseason.
