Brittney Griner
The NBA all-star created an online petition pushing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to get Griner back to the U.S.
"She’s a political pawn,” Cherelle Griner told ABC's "Good Morning America." “So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”
“We need to do absolutely everything we can as Americans," Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was imprisoned in Russia, told CNN.
The secretary of state told Cherelle Griner that her wife's release is a top priority. Russia has extended the basketball star's pretrial detention.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Brittney Griner is still detained in Russia and it doesn’t look like she’ll be freed anytime soon.
Griner's lawyer said he believes the relatively short extension of the detention indicated the case would come to trial soon.
The WNBA All-Star was arrested in February on drug charges. The State Department's reclassification means that the U.S. will work more aggressively to secure her release.
Human rights activists say they are concerned about how the WNBA All-Star athlete is being treated, given Russia's hostility to the LGBTQ community.
The Phoenix Mercury are preparing for their WNBA season without teammate Brittney Griner.
Nneka Ogwumike shared an update on Griner, the WNBA All-Star who was arrested in Russia in February and remains in custody.