A second man has been arrested for throwing a sex toy at a WNBA game, with the 18-year-old describing it as "a stupid prank".
Police say the teenager threw a sex toy in the crowd at a Phoenix Mercury game on Tuesday.
The police report said he pulled the sex toy from his sweater pocket and threw it toward seats in front of him, striking a spectator in the back, with reports claiming it hit a fan and his nine-year-old niece.
He was tackled by a volunteer at the PHX Arena who had witnessed the incident and began following him as the man tried to leave the arena.
Police say the man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.
According to court documents, the man told police "it was just a stupid prank that was trending on social media" and that he bought the toy a day earlier to take to the game.
The comments echoed a similar sentiment expressed by the 23-year-old man arrested in College Park, Georgia, after he was accused of throwing a sex toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream's July 29 match-up with the Golden State Valkyries.
A police report said he threw another sex toy during the Dream's August 1 game against the Mercury, but that instance did not seem to result in a delay of play.
The report said the man told police "this was supposed to be a joke and the joke [was] supposed to go viral".
He is charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, public indecency and indecent exposure.
All four charges are misdemeanours in the state of Georgia, meaning that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months.
A misdemeanour for public indecency and indecent exposure may also require registration on the state's sex offender list.
'This has been going on for centuries'
In the past week-and-a-half, sex toys have been thrown on court during games in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on August 1 and Los Angeles on August 5, with the most recent object nearly hitting Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana's game against the Sparks.
Added to other instances in New York, Phoenix and Atlanta, those on the court have become increasingly frustrated.
"Everyone is trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it's taken seriously, and then that happens," Cunningham said on her podcast.
"I'm like, 'How are we ever going to get taken seriously?'"
No other professional sports leagues have faced sex toy disturbances like this and it has started a conversation online about the perpetrators' choices to throw them during games in a women's league and with high-profile representation of lesbian and queer players.
"This has been going on for centuries — the sexualisation of women — this is the latest version of that," Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.
"It's not funny, it should not be the butt of jokes on any radio shows, in print or any comments.
"The sexualisation of women is what's used to hold women down and this is no different, this is just the latest version.
"These people that are doing this should be held accountable. We're not the butt of the joke, they're the problem, and we need to take action."
A cryptocurrency group has claimed responsibility for at least some of the incidents, with the value of their memecoin rising 300 per cent in seven days, according to USA Today.
"We didn't do this because, like, we dislike women's sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous," the group's spokesman said.
"Creating disruption at games is, like, it happens in every single sport, right? We've seen it in the NFL, we've seen it in hockey, you know … fans doing random things to more or less create attention.
"We knew that in order to get a voice in the space … we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project."
The Athletic reviewed a live stream by the crypto group in which speakers bragged about using the stunts as viral marketing.
Arena security challenges
Arena security teams face challenges in preventing people from bringing these items to games, according to Ty Richmond, the president of the event services division at Allied Universal Security, a company that provides security services to sporting events across the US.
"Not all stadiums are using a screening process that's consistent and can detect [the sex toys] because of what it would require — pat-down searches, opening the bags, prohibiting bags," he said.
"The conflict of expediency, of getting fans into the arena and into the venue, which is an important issue, and security and safety."
The limits of arena security make legal action one of the strongest deterrents for this kind of behaviour, Richmond said.
"The decision to prosecute and show examples of how people are being handled is very important," he said.
"Without a doubt, I think it will make a difference. The application of it is important, and publicising that is important."
The WNBA has said that any spectators throwing objects onto the court will face a minimum one-year ban and prosecution from law enforcement.
Players have also been sounding off on social media, echoing concerns about arena security protocols.
Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison posted on X last week, saying: "ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Please do better. It's not funny. Never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous."
ABC with wires
