Thursday morning brought the news that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony almost 10 months after she was arrested for bringing vape cartridges that contained hashish oil through an airport in Moscow. In exchange for the release of Griner, the U.S. traded a Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, however, the swap ended up leaving another U.S. citizen still in Russian custody.
According to Fox News, Paul Whelan, a veteran of the United States Marine Corp, was not involved in the exchange. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison back in 2018 on charges of espionage. So, we traded a very dangerous arms dealing criminal for a professional basketball player while leaving behind one of our military members? This is just ridiculous.
The absence of Whelan from the exchange was noticed by Micah Parsons, star linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, who immediately took to Twitter where he scorched Biden and his administration for leaving a military member behind.
“Wait nah!! We left a marine?!! Hell nah,” Parsons tweeted.
“President Biden announced Griner’s release early Thursday morning, posting a picture with Griner’s wife Cherelle Griner and Vice President Kamala Harris,” Fox reported.
“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner,” the tweet stated. “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”
The Biden administration has faced significant pressure to find a way to bring Griner back to the U.S. over the last several months, and many will consider this to be a win for the president. But it seems it’s not enough to get Parsons to cast a ballot for Biden in 2024.
“We still not voting for you!” Parsons said in a post that has since been deleted.
After the tweet started going viral, Parsons seemed to back track a bit, deleting the post and offering an explanation and apology for tweeting “out of emotion.”
My last tweet was no shot at Brittney Griner. I’m super happy she’s back home as she should be. I just have family who have served and it’s crazy to me the President wouldn’t bring him home too. I’m the furthest thing from a trump supporter but I’m not a fan of Biden either.
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) December 8, 2022
“Just spoke to some people that I respect and trust. I should have been more educated on the topic and not tweeted out of emotion for my family and other who have served. For that I apologize,” Parsons stated in a post published on Twitter.
“Also if what I’m told about the attempts to bring Ret Marine Paul Whelan home are true then the best outcome was accomplished. I pray Mr. Whelan comes home but am extremely happy for Brittney and her family. I am not too prideful to admit when I’ve made a mistake,” the linebacker added.
It’s completely possible to be happy for Griner’s family while also being unhappy with how the whole situation was handled. It’s amazing to me that so much effort was put toward Griner, and she was freed in ten months, yet Whelan has been held for several years now and still has not been brought home.
The biggest concern is that this arms dealer gets free somehow and goes right back to doing the dirty work he was doing before, which is likely to happen at some point, and people will die as a result. Let’s hope that doesn’t come to pass, but given the Russian government, who knows?
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