E. Flatbush basketball games promote nonviolence

Young East Flatbush basketball players hit the court Saturday to kick-start a conversation about increasing the peace. The families of Shantel Davis and Kimani Gray, who both died at the hands of police

News 12 Staff

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Aug 9, 2015, 2:16 AM

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Updated 3,427 days ago

Young East Flatbush basketball players hit the court Saturday to kick-start a conversation about increasing the peace.

The families of Shantel Davis and Kimani Gray, who both died at the hands of police during separate altercations, helped organize the event.

"We may be angry about what happened, but we're going to take a different route," says Natasha Duncan, Davis' sister.

The Hoops for Justice tournament is open to middle and high school students. Organizers say there is a lack of activities for young people, which leaves them turning to violence.

Relatives say they don't want the deaths of their family members to be in vain. They say they're educating the young athletes about properly dealing with law enforcement officers.

Still, some of the players say the police need to change their behavior as well.

"They need to figure out the situation first before they pull out a gun or anything like that," says Marvems Volcimus. "Before they start violating everybody."

Iziah McPhatter, another player, agrees.

"They need more discipline," McPhatter says. "They have no discipline at all, like they don't care about lives."