WNBA fines teams, players for wearing black shirts to support shooting victims

The WNBA fined three teams and their players on Thursday for wearing black warm-up shirts to support victims of the recent police shootings.

The Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury were the three teams that got fined. The shirts were branded with Adidas, which is official outfitter of the league, but teams cannot alter the uniforms. Each team was fined $5,000 and each player was fined $500 for violating the league’s uniform policy, according to the Associated Press.

“We are proud of WNBA players’ engagement and passionate advocacy for non-violent solutions to difficult social issues but expect them to comply with the league’s uniform guidelines,” WNBA President Lisa Borders said in a statement.

Fever player Briann January said that what's most upsetting is the league won’t side with its players who are mostly African American. Fever All-Star Tamika Catchings said that the league and the players are fighting each other. Liberty guard Tanisha Wright told the New York Times that it is unfortunate that the WNBA isn’t supporting players when they want to use their voices and platform to advocate about police brutality.

Liberty center Tina Charles responded to the fine by tweeting “I refuse to be silent” along with a pic of her wearing the black shirt.

I refuse to be silent @WNBA pic.twitter.com/INIAI1rSIF

— Tina Charles (@tinacharles31) July 21, 2016

Charles also responded to the fines on Instagram saying, “Seventy percent of the WNBA players are African-American women and as a league collectively impacted. My teammates and I will continue to use our platform and raise awareness for the #BlackLivesMatter movement until the WNBA fives its support as it does for Breast Cancer Awareness, Prise and other subject matters.”

Today, I decided to not be silent in the wake of the @wnba fines against @nyliberty, @indianafever & @phoenixmercury due to our support in the #BlackLivesMatter movement . Seventy percent of the @wnba players are African-American women and as a league collectively impacted. My teammates and I will continue to use our platform and raise awareness for the #BlackLivesMatter movement until the @wnba gives its support as it does for Breast Cancer Awareness, Pride and other subject matters.

A photo posted by Tina Charles (@tina31charles) on Jul 21, 2016 at 11:41am PDT

In December 2014, NBA players wore “I can’t breathe” t-shirts to support Eric Garner who was choked to death by police.The NBA did not fine the players who wore that shirt. The WNBA will go on hiatus for the Olympics this Saturday.