School bans ‘I Can’t Breathe’ shirts from b-ball tourney

A girls high school basketball team in California was disinvited from a tournament because its players planned to wear “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts referring to the killing of a New York man by police.

Boys and girls high school teams from Mendocino were scheduled to compete at a three-day tournament hosted by Fort Bragg High School starting Monday, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}The boys team will play in the tournament, after its members decided to not wear the shirts, which refer to Eric Garner’s dying comments to police officers who put him in a chokehold over the summer.

Garner died in the incident, which was captured on video. A grand jury this fall did not indict the officer who put Garner in the chokehold, sparking nationwide protests.

According to the AP, a number of girls on the Mendocino team said they would refuse to not wear the warm-up shirts. As a result, the girls team will not play in the tournament.

Fort Bragg High School Principal Rebecca Walker issued a written statement that said the T-shirts were being banned because of security.

“To protect the safety and well-being of all tournament participants it is necessary to ensure that all political statements and or protests are kept away from this tournament,” she wrote.

The Mendocino girls team’s coach, Caedyn Feehan, told the AP that team players had worn the shirts at two other tournaments.

“None of the administrators knew what it was or that any of them were doing it in advance,” she told the AP. “This was entirely for their cause that they had strong feelings about.”

The father of a member of the boys team, who will sit out the tournament over the T-shirt issue, said he will bring the issue to the American Civil Liberties Union.

A number of NBA players, including Lebron James, have worn the “I Can’t Breathe” shirts in warm-ups for their games.