![](https://practice.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/ray-lewis.jpg?w=990)
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/3842317923/">Keith Allison</a>/Flickr; (Patrick Semansky/AP)
Athletes and celebrities have taken to social media to call for an end to the Baltimore riots that flared overnight after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody having suffered a spinal cord injury.
Ray Lewis, who played for the Baltimore Ravens for 17 years before retiring in 2013, posted this fiery speech to residents on Facebook on Tuesday, asking for peace: “Young kids, you gotta understand something. Get off the streets. Violence is not the answer. Violence has never been the answer.” (Ray Lewis was charged with murder in 2000 after a brawl in Atlanta, but those charges were later dropped.)
I’ve got a message for the rioters in Baltimore. #BaltimoreRiots
Posted by Ray Lewis on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Professional basketball player and Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony delivered this message to his hometown.
Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce also denounced violence, recalling the Los Angeles riots after the 1992 beating of Rodney King by police, which he witnessed as a teenager in Inglewood, California:
Having witnessed the LA riots first hand I know this is not the solution. Baltimore Stop the Violence!
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) April 28, 2015
Comedian Cedric The Entertainer, who was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, linked the upheaval to what happened in Ferguson (near his hometown), after the death of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black man shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson.
Hate to see Baltimore going thru what my hometown of Ferguson went thru. Change is necessary, but violence and destruction is not the answer
— CedricTheEntertainer (@CedEntertainer) April 27, 2015
At least 15 police officers were injured in Monday’s riots. On Tuesday morning, about 2,500 residents responded, sweeping debris throughout the city left in the wake of buildings destroyed by fires and looted businesses.