Kamala Harris called hypocrite as she slams Brittney Griner's sentencing by Russia over marijuana possession
Vice President Kamala Harris is being slammed as a hypocrite after she condemned Russia for sentencing basketball star Brittney Griner to 9 years in jail for drug smuggling. Many pointed out Harris' record as AG of California when she prosecuted thousands of marijuana possession cases at a rate higher than her predecessor.
The WNBA star was sentenced on Thursday by a judge who rejected her claim that she accidentally brought a marijuana pen into the country. Prosecutors had requested the court to give her nine and a half years - six months less than the maximum 10 years. Griner has ten days to appeal the verdict and sentencing, her attorneys said.
After the announcement, Harris tweeted, "With today's sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released instantly." She further 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 one of them dearly."
However, as soon as she sent out her tweet, users on the platform pointed out how she locked up thousands of individuals on marijuana charges as DA of San Francisco. During her tenure as DA, she was responsible for overseeing more than 1,900 marijuana convictions.
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With today’s sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released immediately. @POTUS and I, and our entire Administration, are working every day to reunite Brittney, as well as Paul Whelan, with loved ones who miss each of them dearly.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 4, 2022
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."
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.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 4, 2022
Between 2011 and 2016, while Harris was the California attorney general, at least 1,560 people were sent to California state prisons on marijuana-related offenses, a 2019 investigation by the Washington Free Beacon revealed.
The VP has previously spoken out against marijuana legalization — co-authoring the opposition argument in a voter guide.while actively fighting a ballot measure for recreational marijuana use in 2010. By 2014, when she was the state's AG, officers working for her state Department of Justice rented a helicopter to look for marijuana patches to raid without warrants, the San Francisco Weekly reported at the time. Only when she was considered a presidential candidate in 2018 that Harris came out for legalizing marijuana in 2018.