Thursday 4 August 2022 09:40 PM Kamala Harris is slammed as a hypocrite after she condemns Brittney Griner's ... trends now
Vice President Kamala Harris has been slammed online as a hypocrite after she condemned Russian officials for sentencing basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug smuggling.
The WNBA star was found guilty on Thursday by a judge who rejected her claim she accidentally brought a marijuana pen into the country. Prosecutors had asked that she be jailed for nine-and-a-half years, six months less than the maximum of 10 years in prison.
Her attorneys say they have ten days to appeal the verdict and sentencing, and that the typical sentence handed down for such a crime is six years.
Following the announcement, Harris tweeted: 'With today's sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. Sher should be released immediately.'
She added that she and President Joe Biden 'are working every day to reunite Brittney, as well as Paul Whelan, with loved ones who miss each of them dearly.'
But almost immediately after she posted her condemnation of Griner's sentencing, people on Twitter pointed out that she locked up thousands of people on marijuana charges while she was the District Attorney of San Francisco.
As author Tim Young wrote: 'Brittney Griner got 9 years for drug possession in Russia... which sounds like most of the criminal sentences Kamala Harris got people for the same thing when she was Attorney General of California.'
Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the nine year sentence of basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday
Several people on Twitter, including author Tim Young, were quick to point out that she locked up thousands of people on marijuana charges while she was the District Attorney of San Francisco
During her tenure as DA, Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions, and prosecutors in her office convicted people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor
In fact, as the District Attorney, Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions, and prosecutors in her office convicted people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to Mercury News.
She has also previously spoken out against the legalization of marijuana — actively fighting a ballot measure for recreational marijuana use in 2010, when she co-authored the opposition argument in a voter guide.
In 2016, she stayed mum on the issue as a second ballot initiative passed, and she only came out for legalizing marijuana in 2018 — after she was widely considered a presidential contender.
Still, Harris is not the only American prosecutor who has gone after marijuana users in the past.
According to an analysis by the ACLU, marijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States, and of the 8.2 million marijuana busts between 2001 to 2010, 88 percent were for simply having marijuana.
Similarly, Griner was arrested at the airport in Moscow in February and has been incarcerated ever since, despite failed attempts from the White House to negotiate her release.
Brittney Griner in court in Khimki, near Moscow, on Thursday. The 31-year-old American athlete has been sentenced to nine years in prison
Griner was held in a cell while her legal team sat at a table surrounding her. She had to rely on an interpreter to relay what the judge said
Griner is led out of the courtroom in Khimki carrying a book, a bottle of water and photos of her teammates that she presented to the judge earlier
Griner being led out of the courtroom on Thursday. Her attorneys have not yet indicated whether they will appeal the sentence - or if that is even a possibility
Griner's detention has been widely condemned throughout the United States, and following her sentencing on Thursday, President Joe Biden denounced the sentence and claimed she was 'wrongfully detained' - despite her pleading guilty.
He said in a statement: 'Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates.'
Biden also said he would continue to work 'tirelessly' to pursue 'every possible avenue' to bring her and Paul Whelan - another American imprisoned in Russia - home.
Charge d'Affaires of the US embassy in Russia Elizabeth Rood also called the sentence a 'miscarriage of justice' while John Kirby, the US National Security Council Director for Strategic Communications, echoed Biden's comments.
President Biden immediately denounced the sentence and claimed Russia had 'wrongfully' detained her
'This sentence, this trial just reaffirms what we have been saying all along: Brittney has been wrongfully detained and she needs to be immediately released by Russian authorities so she can be home with her wife, her teammates, and her friends and family and the President is going to stay 100% committed to achieving that outcome,' he said during an appearance on
