MADRID: Tennis world number one Serena Williams declared her sadness at the ongoing racial tension in Baltimore following the death of an unarmed African-American man due to injuries suffered whilst in police custody.
A curfew was imposed in the American city after rioting and protests following the death of Freddie Gray, 25, who died after suffering a serious spinal injury while in the back of a police van.
“I feel like it is a big problem right now, it is a very sad situation for everyone involved,” Williams said after easing into the second round of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
“It´s a shame that has to happen, but hopefully we can continue to grow as a nation and as a country and overcome it.”
Six Baltimore police officers, three white and three black, were charged with multiple counts including second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death.
Gray´s case is the latest in a growing roster of high-profile deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, and has rekindled national debate and simmering tensions about whether police are too hasty to use deadly violence when dealing with African American or minority suspects.