A 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.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM RALLY ROCKS WNBA GAME AS ‘SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS’ ACTIVISTS FACE COUNTERPROTEST
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.
“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 Pledge Arena, said she also heard the boos but stressed that the reception was not uniformly hostile.
“For the most part, I was happily surprised,” Sousa told Fox News Digital. “I was surprised at how many people sitting in our area who were not of our group were thanking us for being there.”
Sousa did not witness the alleged exchange with Keaton or the players’ gestures. She learned about those incidents afterward. However, she provided footage to Fox News Digital of an adult man confronting members of the group as they left the arena and repeatedly tell them to “take out the trash.”
Sousa said the conduct inside the arena was worse than what supporters experienced at the pregame rally, where a few dozen Cunningham supporters and counterprotesters gathered. Supporters brought balloons, a life-size Cunningham cutout and signs with messages including “Thank you Sophie” and “With love is truth.”
Sousa described the outside event as largely peaceful. Heather Weiner, a spokesperson for the opposing No Hate in Washington State campaign, also characterized the competing demonstrations as positive overall.
A separate video circulated on social media after the game appearing to show a person in Storm apparel spit or spray liquid at a fan wearing Fever gear during a confrontation.
On the court, Cunningham appeared unfazed. She scored 11 points, made three of her four 3-point attempts and collected five rebounds in Indiana’s 105-95 victory. Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, while Kelsey Mitchell added 28 as the Fever earned their fourth consecutive win.
“She seemed completely unfazed by any negative attention,” Sousa said. “I felt like I saw a smile on her face the whole game.”
Before the game, the Storm said it was aware of the planned demonstration and was “tracking it closely.” The team said it remained committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all guests.
Storm head coach Sonia Raman addressed the rally after the game but did not discuss the allegations involving the girls.
“We always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building,” Raman said, adding that the organization coordinated with arena security. “From what I understand, that was successful.”
The comments came before Kruse publicly detailed the allegations involving the teenagers.
The Fever, meanwhile, distanced the organization and Cunningham from the rally. A team public relations representative interrupted when head coach Stephanie White was asked about the gathering during her postgame press conference.
“Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,” the representative said.
The representative added that the Fever remained united around winning games and building its fan base before directing reporters back to basketball questions.
Neither Cunningham nor Clark was made available to reporters after the game. Mitchell and Monique Billings appeared beside White instead. When White was asked about the festivities and activism, she also said they were not aware of it and that their players were not in touch with the organizers.
Sousa said most of the Cunningham supporters still enjoyed the game. But the treatment of the girls overshadowed the celebration they had intended to give them.
“The hardest thing was those girls having their spirits crushed,” Sousa said. “Adults should deal with adults. If you don’t like what I’m saying, talk to another adult.”
“Why would you behave that way toward young women?”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Storm for a response to the remainder of Souza and Kruse’s allegations, but the team has only addressed the allegations against Keaton.
