WNBA starNatasha Cloud bailed out a Florida woman charged with criminal mischief and providing a fake name to police officers after destroying Trump campaign signs in Flagler County, Florida.- The Washington Mystics guard asked her Twitter followers to "figure out what her
bail is for me!" early Tuesday morning and later confirmed that she paid the woman's bond, adding, "Go live you life sis ✊." - The woman in question is Tonya McRae, a 42-year-old, self-proclaimed anarchist arrested and held on a $500
bond after officials caught her damaging a roadside "Women for Trump" campaign sign. - "We're in a time in our country like never before," Cloud told Insider. "And as a Black bisexual woman, that man and those signs are a threat to our lives."
After she learned that a woman was arrested and jailed for destroying roadside Trump campaign signs in Florida, WNBA star Natasha Cloud felt compelled to get involved and, hours later, pay for her release.
"While I don't condone destruction of things... I know exactly where she's coming from," Cloud told Insider. "I've too wanted to rip signs and flags down."
"I understood her," she added.
On Tuesday morning — Election Day — the Washington Mystics guard and 2019 WNBA champion responded to a tweet from the Orlando Sentinel featuring an article that details the circumstances of the woman's
"We're in a time in our country like never before," Cloud said. "And as a Black bisexual woman, that man and those signs are a threat to our lives."
In a body camera video posted on the Flagler County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page, McRae complies with two officers as they handcuff her. She calmly explains that she "was stressed out" and "acted out of impulse" because "I didn't like what I saw."
According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, McRae was charged and held on a $500 bond for criminal mischief and providing a fake name to the officials. She caused approximately $200 worth of damage, the police department estimated.
"A Black woman does $200 worth of damage to a sign and is put in prison on a $500 bond?" Cloud said. "It's ridiculous. I'm done with the mistreatment of minorities, especially women, [and] the hypocrisy of policing and politics."
Though Sheriff Rick Staly acknowledged that "emotions are high this election season" per a release from his department, he encouraged the people of Flagler County to "Remember that it is illegal to damage or steal campaign signs in the same way that it is illegal to damage or steal someone else's property."
"It is almost over," Staly said. "Overall, the community has done a good job being respectful of the beliefs and opinions of others. Please continue to do so. We have had sporadic reports of vandalism and theft of political signs by all parties."
Two days after the arrest, Cloud learned that McRae was still being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and inquired about "next steps" after asking her Twitter followers to "figure out what her bail is for me!" By 9:50 on Tuesday morning, Cloud — who is currently playing overseas in Italy — said that she had posted a bond on McRae's behalf.
"UPDATE: @TheJMRoberts is the goat and helped me figure out how to pay the BOND," Cloud wrote. "Go live you life sis ✊."
"It's the least I could do," she told Insider.
—Natasha Cloud (@T_Cloud4) November 3, 2020
"This is a fight we need to continue to step up in as well," Cloud added. "She's not the only woman or man waiting on a bond to be let out of prison for a minor crime."
Cloud has been vocal in her support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the
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