California high school basketball teams disinvited from tournament over 'I Can't Breathe' shirts
The boys and girls basketball teams at Mendocino High School were disinvited from a three-day tournament because of concerns its players would wear T-shirts printed with the words 'I Can’t Breathe' during warmups.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Saturday, December 27, 2014, 11:35 PM
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CHRIS CALDER/APMendocino High School girls basketball players wear "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts before a recent game.
A high school basketball tournament on the Northern California coast has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing protests over police killings of unarmed black men after a school was disinvited because of concerns its players would wear T-shirts printed with the words “I Can’t Breathe” during warmups.
The athletic director at Fort Bragg High School informed his counterpart at Mendocino High School this week that neither the boys nor girls team would be allowed to participate in the three-day tournament, Mendocino Unified School District Superintendent Jason Morse said.
The boys were reinstated after all but one player agreed not to wear the shirts inspired by the last words of Eric Garner, the New York man who died after an officer put him in a chokehold, Morse said. Too few girls’ team players accepted the condition for the team to field a tournament squad, he said.
