Protests over the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal spine injury while in police custody, filled the streets of Baltimore on Saturday, even forcing the Baltimore Orioles to close the gates to their stadium to keep fans inside.
And as protesters and police clashed outside Camden Yards, the Orioles players inside couldn’t help but notice.
“I understand they are fighting for a good cause,” centerfielder Adam Jones said, according to the Baltimore Sun. “I just want people to be safe. I don’t want people to be hurt. I understand, fight for your rights. It’s what you should do. But try to be safe and be smart about it.”
“It’s about that it can happen at any other city,” Jones continued. “An African-American is an African-American. It doesn’t matter that I’m in Baltimore. But I just want people to be safe during this issue. It’s a tough issue. I think everybody needs to get all the facts. Stay safe, stay smart. Protest, but let’s not damage our own city. At the end of the day, you got to live here.”
Other Orioles players reacted too — first baseman Chris Davis said the protesters were “rightfully” upset while calling for peace — while manager Buck Showalter admitted that the protests and unrest around Gray’s death made it hard to focus on baseball. And while none of the players spoke out as forcefully as others have in the past, the Baltimore protests are the latest instance of police violence and ensuing protests spilling over into the sports world.
After Mike Brown’s death in Ferguson, protesters demonstrated at both St. Louis Cardinals and Rams games, and four Rams players walked onto the field with their hands up to protest Brown’s killing by police. NBA and NFL players, including Derrick Rose, LeBron James, and members of the Brooklyn Nets, wore shirts that read “I Can’t Breathe” during warm-ups to protest the death of Eric Garner, who was killed by New York police. Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins wore a shirt during warm-ups that called for “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford,” two black Ohioans who were killed by police. Many of those efforts to call attention to the issue drew rebukes from local police unions, but the players continued speaking out.
The problem of police violence hit even closer to the sports world in April, when Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha suffered a broken leg and ligament damage while police arrested him outside a New York City nightclub. Video of the incident has cast serious doubt over the NYPD’s original account of Sefolosha’s arrest, and the NBA Players Association and NBA have both launched their own investigations of the incident.
As the Baltimore protests continued Saturday, the city’s police commissioner admitted that his officers committed deadly mistakes in Gray’s arrest.