SPORTSMANSHIP

Philly Soccer Player Uses Corner Mic to Urge Congress to ‘End Gun Violence’

Alejandro Bedoya used a triumphant moment to send a message to Congress.

American professional soccer player Alejandro Bedoya used a moment of triumph during a game against D.C. United in the nation’s capital on Sunday night to send a political message. After scoring an early goal for his team, the Philadelphia Union, Bedoya ran away from his congratulatory teammates straight to a microphone stationed at the field’s corner and shouted: “Congress, do something now. End gun violence. Let’s go.” His call to Congress appears to be in reaction to the two major mass shootings that took place on Saturday and Sunday in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, respectively. In total, 29 people died as a result of the shootings over the weekend, and more than a dozen were injured.

Bedoya’s advocacy for the issue of gun violence is not new. He reportedly grew up in Weston, Florida, about 15 minutes from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2018. Following that mass shooting, Bedoya wore an “MSD Strong” shirt underneath his jersey to “support families affected by the tragic event in Parkland,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.