RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesA night of celebration devolved into a storm of chaos in Seattle .
Women who were at the Indiana Fever game against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night told Fox News Digital that Storm players and even co-owner Celeste Keaton allegedly made mocking gestures and insults to girls who were there to celebrate Sophie Cunningham.
The Storm provided a statement to Fox News Digital apologizing for the conduct of the co-owner.
"We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night's game. We apologize that this happened. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect," the statement read.
The game became a flashpoint in the national debate over trans athletes when Cunningham supporters showed up to hold a rally outside Climate Pledge Arena in support of her recent statements on protecting women's sports.
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But then when her supporters went inside the arena, they allegedly faced shocking hostility, while fans in attendance relentlessly booed Cunningham from the moment she touched the ball.
The group included several teenage girls wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and carrying handmade signs thanking Cunningham. Independent journalist Brandi Kruse, who helped organize the gathering, sat near the girls in courtside seats on the Storm’s end of the floor.
Kruse said fans began booing the girls when they stood up for photographs before the game and between quarters.
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"Some of the fans were relentlessly booing at them," Kruse told Fox News Digital. "And I kind of turned around and said, ‘Look, they’re just teenage girls.’"
Kruse said she also personally witnessed "a couple" of Storm players direct thumbs-down gestures toward the girls. She said one of the gestures came when a girl wearing an XX-XY Athletics shirt danced during a break in the game.
"They were giving them thumbs down — like, to their faces," Kruse said.
Kruse did not hear the players say anything to the girls and could not identify which players made the gestures.
The night took a more emotional turn at halftime.
One of the 16-year-old girls had already texted Kruse that nearby fans were making comments about her shirt and Cunningham. Kruse later looked across the court and saw the girl sobbing in her front-row seat.
"I look over at halftime, and she’s sobbing," Kruse said. "They were so excited for those seats, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of their favorite players. They stayed up the night before making signs."
Kruse said the girls then told her that an older woman associated with the Storm had approached them, yelled at them and called them "f---ing insane."
The girls later pointed out the woman sitting directly across from them beside Storm legend and team co-owner Sue Bird, according to Kruse. When Kruse alerted an arena security guard, she said the guard identified the woman as "one of the owners of the team."
Kruse later identified the woman as Keaton, who has previously been publicly identified as a member of the Storm’s ownership group.
Kruse said she pressed security to confront the woman, arguing that the alleged conduct violated the arena’s code of conduct. Climate Pledge Arena prohibits abusive or obscene language and says violators may be ejected.
"Had this been any other fan under any other circumstances who swore at and called some teenage girls ‘f---ing insane’ until they cried, they would’ve been ejected," Kruse said.
Security personnel instead recommended that Kruse contact the Storm’s front office after the game, she said.
Kruse also claimed that the girls were not forced to put down their signs in support of Cunningham, despite online rumors, but that they chose to put them down after the alleged harassment.
"The report that they told the girls to put those signs away is not true," Kruse said. "The girls put their signs away because of what happened with Celeste, and they just felt so scared and uncomfortable, they decided not to hold them anymore."
Kruse and rally organizer Amy Sousa said supporters deliberately left signs promoting Washington Initiative 638 outside because they understood that political signs were not permitted in the arena. The November ballot measure would prohibit students it defines as biologically male from competing in certain K-12 athletic events designated for female students.
However, the arena displayed "No Hate in Washington State" signs opposing the initiative on its video boards throughout the game, according to both women. Kruse said two security guards told her the Storm had made a one-night exception to its political-signage restriction for the opposition campaign.
Climate Pledge Arena’s publicly posted sign policy does not expressly prohibit political messages. It bars commercial, derogatory, insulting, obscene or culturally disrespectful signs and gives management discretion to reject signs it deems inappropriate.
Storm center Stefanie Dolson also arrived wearing a shirt that read "Trans rights are human rights." The team posted photographs of Dolson wearing the shirt on social media, and Dolson shared the post.
Kruse said Dolson later stood and applauded demonstratively when the "No Hate" signs appeared on the arena’s video board. She viewed the gesture as directed toward Cunningham’s supporters seated nearby.
The arena also erupted in loud boos when Cunningham entered the game and when she attempted her first free throws.
"Very loud," Kruse said. "They booed Sophie so loud. I was shocked."
Kruse claims that when the arena jumbotron showed fans wearing shirts in support of trans people, Dolson clapped demonstratively on the court.
Sousa, who organized the gathering outside Climate Pledg...
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