Sophie Cunningham fans allege Storm players, exec heckled girls during game over support of women's sports - Fox News

Women's sports activist Amy Sousa tells Fox News Digital what she allegedly witnessed during the Seattle Storm game against the Indiana Fever amid support of Sophie Cunningham speaking out in support of women's sports.

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.

JENNIFER SEY REVEALS ALLEGED COMMUNICATION WITH SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM AMID RECRUITMENT PITCH FOR XX-XY ATHLETICS

"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.