Eric Garner Death: Notre Dame Basketball players wear ‘I can’t breathe’ T-shirts in Protest

African-Americans in the USA have often reported harassment by the police. This harassment took a turn for the worst in July this year when 43-year old Eric Garner died of chokehold while being arrested by the police. The incident and the aftermath saw protests in different parts of the country with professional athletes like Reggie Bush and LeBron James, amongst others, raising their voice against such probable hate-crimes.

Following the footsteps of NFL player Reggie Bush, and NBA players LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Deron Williams; the women’s basketball team of Notre Dame came out for a practice session wearing a black T-shirt with ‘I can’t breathe’ written on it. The Irish team had sought prior permission from Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, to wear them.

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According to Muffet McGraw, ND Women’s Basketball Coach, the girls paid for the T-shirts with their own money and organized the event on their own. She added, "I was really proud of our team, especially Taya, to publicly stand for something you believe in… I think one of the things I try to teach them is you've got to fight. You've got to fight for playing time. You've got to fight to win a national championship. You have to be willing to stand up and fight and you have to be accountable:" according to a report by ESPN.

This was the first women’s team to wear the T-shirts. Reportedly, Garner, who was bloodchoked, uttered these words before passing out, which later led to his death. The team later won the match against Michigan, with 70-50 scores.