Former Baltimore Ravens all-star Ray Lewis took to his official Facebook account on Tuesday to plead with young people to stop rioting in the city.
“No way. No way. No way this can happen in our city. No! Young kids, you got to understand something: Get off the streets. Violence is not the answer. Violence has never been the answer. Freddie Gray, we don’t do nothing for him doing this. We know there’s a deeper issue. We know what the jungle looks like, but this isn’t it. There’s enough of us in the streets trying to change what’s going on. Baltimore, get off the streets!” the former linebacker said.
Baltimore has been on edge since the arrest of 25-year-old Freddie Gray on April 12. Mr. Gray obtained spinal injuries during the altercation and died April 19. The incident led to the suspension of six cops with the Baltimore Police Department and prompted an ongoing investigation.
The widespread unrest in Baltimore occurred after Mr. Gray’s funeral, which was held Monday at New Shiloh Baptist Church on North Monroe.
“This is our future. Our future is in Baltimore. What we’re trying to build is in Baltimore. Too many babies paying attention to this craziness. And the sad part is, we got young kids trying to tell us how they’re going to dictate our city. That won’t happen. We must change this right now. Stop the violence, man. Go home. I’m telling you, go home! Whatever I got to do, it will not happen on our clock. It will not happen on our clock,” Mr. Lewis said in his video.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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