An self -proclaimed crypto lover told ESPN that he was part of a group that orchestrated recent sex toy waterfalls that have disrupted at least three WNBA games in the past 10 days.
The man, who talked about the condition of anonymity on videoconference on Wednesday, said that the waterfalls were supposed to market a cryptography piece created by his online community. The WNBA and all its “controversy,” he said, made the league a logical target.
“It was more or less as an opportunistic approach, you know, which is already trendy,” he said. “Where is there already a controversy and how to intercept part of this attention?”
The man, who uses Lieutenant Daldo Raine as a user name on X – a sign of the head, he said, to the character of Brad Pitt in the film “Inglourious Basterds” – kept his camera and refused to give his name or age during the call with ESPN. The group, he said, wants to recover the creative and community aspects of the world of cryptography.
“We really wanted to make the memes funny again,” he said.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the League refused to answer ESPN questions about the group that claimed responsibility or adjustments to Arena’s security. USA TODAY first reported the news of the group’s complaint.
WNBPA Executive Director, Terra Jackson, told ESPN on Thursday that the players’ union had requested an update from the League and was informed that the league was investigating the claims that individuals were encouraged to make the waterfalls.
The man told ESPN that the play had started to exchange on July 28, the day before the first sex toy in a WNBA match. The registration of transaction of the part on Dex Screener, a website which follows the prices in real time of cryptocurrencies, confirms this calendar.
Publications of the group’s telegram community, which include more than 1,000 users, were examined by ESPN. They reveal inside and a prior knowledge of this first incident, during the Atlanta dream match against the Golden State Valkyries on July 29.
A link to a flow of the game was shared in the cat before Tipoff, and the members of the community celebrated their next blow and published many derogatory comments on the WNBA. “We are going to soon buy the league,” wrote a poster under a time time for 7:13 pm and then, swept away by time at 7:30 pm, Daldo shared a meme of green toy with the legend “, Dildo Warrior practicing his throw!” A few hours later, the game was postponed to the fourth quarter after a green sex toy was thrown on the field.
Since then, two people have been arrested in conjunction with sex toy cascades in two cities. Delbert Carver, 23, from Marietta, in Georgia, was arrested on August 1 for allegedly launched a green sex toy on the field at the end of the dream home match against Mercury. According to the police archives, Carver was detained after trying to flee and confessed to having also launched the first sex toy on July 29.
However, the ESPN man spoke said that Carver was not affiliated with the group and was not the launcher of the sex toy on July 29. He refused to say who threw the object.
Carver did not respond to several requests for comments from ESPN.
On August 1, a green sex toy was thrown on the field in a match of Chicago Sky-Valkyries in Chicago.
The star of Indiana Fever, Sophie Cunningham, addressed the trend that night.
“Stop throwing dildos on the ground,” said Cunningham on X. “You will hurt one of us.”
According to the ESPN man has met, the group has planned other incidents on Tuesday evening in four different arenas.
An 18-year-old man, Kaden Lopez, was arrested at PHX Arena in Phoenix during the Sun Mercury-Connecticut Sun game. The judicial archives say that Lopez withdrawn a green sex toy from his sweatshirt pocket, threw him and hit two spectators, including a minor. After the draw, he tried to leave the building. A volunteer from the arena witnessed the incident, followed Lopez and addressed it.
The ESPN man spoke to him provided Lopez’s name before his name was made public and said Lopez was part of the coordinated waterfall. Lopez is accused of disorderly driving offense and tort attack. An accusation of crime of public presentation of obscene material was abandoned. Lopez was celebrated as a “hero” and a “legend” in the group’s telegram cat.
A WNBA spokesperson refused to answer ESPN questions about the arrest.
Also on Tuesday, video sequences published on X show a green sex toy that was thrown stalls at the Barclays Center during the New York Liberty match against the Dallas wings, but he failed to go to the field.
A sex toy was thrown on the field in Los Angeles in a Sparks-fever match, seeming to strike Cunningham.
“We are working with ARENA staff to identify the responsible person and guarantee that appropriate measures are taken,” the Sparks said in a statement.
In addition, the man said, a sex toy was supposed to be thrown in Seattle during the storm match against the Lynx of Minnesota, but the launcher did not attempt him.
The WNBA published a press release on August 2, after the arrest of Carver.
“The security and well-being of everyone in our arenas is an absolute priority for our league. Objects of any type thrown in the field or in the living room area may present a risk of security for players, game managers and fans. In accordance with the safety standards of the WNBA Arena, any fan who intentionally throws an object in the court will be immediately ejected and will face a minimum prohibition arrest and proseer by local authorities.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve tackled the problem with journalists after training on Thursday.
“It has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of this. And it’s not funny,” she said. “These people who do this should be responsible. … They are the problem and we have to act.”
On Thursday evening, another sex toy was thrown on the field during the dream game. We do not know if the incident was linked to the previous ones.
According to a value tracker on Forbes, the price of the medal, which “represents a daring movement in Internet culture – giving holders a voice in a fun, fearless and rapid growth community,” increased around 300% last week.
According to Google Trends, there has been a 3,700% increase in American research interest on “Green Dildo” since July 29.
A Paris website has created markets around sex toys, allowing users to bet on the moment when another draw takes place and the color of the dildo. According to the source of ESPN, several members of the community have placed and won betting.
“There were several people who greased the bets quite strongly because we knew what was going on,” said the source.
Dave Mason, brand director of the online sports book based in Panama, Betonline, said that when the second sex toy was also green, he started looking for who could orchestrate the waterfalls. This is how he found the group of crypto coins.
“This is part of the game during the market offer like these,” said Mason in an email exchange with ESPN. “We can choose to offer them or not. We know that people will have internal information and could bet.”
The Source Crypto Coin told ESPN that the group was moving away from the WNBA matches and had distinguished an MLB match on Wednesday evening. During the Marlins-Astros match in Miami, a woman sitting behind marble held a green sex toy.
“We have a lot of funny things planned,” said the source. “Of a less disruptive nature, but we want people to look for us.”
