Brittney Griner Airport Exchange With YouTuber Alex Stein Detailed in Police Report

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was confronted by a YouTube personality in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday morning, and details of the incident were released in a police report on Monday.

According to ESPN's Alexa Philippou, Alex Stein "tried to push his way through" Mercury security personnel to get to Griner before the team boarded a flight to Indiana following back-to-back games against the Dallas Wings. Stein is a Dallas native and Blaze Media personality who "has gained some notoriety for confronting politicians," per ESPN's M.A. Voepel.

The report stated that the Mercury security representative stayed in between Stein and Griner while he tried to get to her. The guard pushed Stein against a wall of the concourse while Griner waited behind an area near the gate until officers arrived.

The security representative told officers that Stein "seemed aggressive and made some inappropriate comments" toward Griner. The guard said even though Stein got physical with him, he does not want to press charges.

The report noted that airport officers were unable to locate Stein in the area, and American Airlines didn't find a passenger with his name scheduled for a flight at that airport. It was confirmed by the airport master control room that Stein "walked to the lower gates, connected with a female passenger and entered the Skylink Train heading to Terminals B & D."

Mercury players were escorted to the American Airlines Customer Experience office as they waited to board their flight, and the team was later escorted by officers to the gate and boarded without any further issues.

Griner was detained in Russian custody in February 2022 after Russian custom officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport. She was sentenced to a nine-year prison term in August, and she was freed in December following a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russian governments.

The WNBA approved Griner to fly charter for games, but the Mercury have not said why she wasn't doing so on Saturday.

Following the incident with Stein, Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard said on Sunday that the organization "will be making adjustments that maybe should have happened before," regarding the safety of the team during WNBA travel. She didn't further specify what that meant, only adding, "Right now, we're going to prioritize the safety of our players."