The administration of American president Joe Biden made the controversial decision Thursday to free Brittney Griner from Russian custody in exchange for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Biden faced criticism for the move from many in the sports world, including from Rachel Bush, the wife of Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer.
Bush took to Twitter in the hours following the news of Griner’s release to voice her displeasure with the deal.
https://twitter.com/Rachel__Bush/status/1600876052905365506
“So let me get this straight. We are sending billions to Ukraine for their war, however we just traded the “merchant of death” Russian arms dealer back to Russia DURING their war with Ukraine in exchange for a basketball player. Does that even SOUND RIGHT TO YOU?!” Bush tweeted.
The tweed had more than 1,000 retweets and 6,000 likes on Friday afternoon. Poyer did not immediately comment on his wife’s viral tweet.
Griner initially pled guilty to charges she brought medical hashish oil aboard a domestic flight with her Russian Premier League team in January. The Russians sentenced her to nine years in a maximum-security penal colony for women. The Russians denied her appeal for freedom in late October and only recently admitted to moving Griner to the penal colony, though they made the move immediately following the ruling.
Griner was photographed without her customary dreadlocks in the first photos of her since being released.