Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya made his feelings known after scoring against DC United on Sunday night, picking up a pitch-side microphone to send a message to Congress.
The 32-year-old brought attention to this weekend's mass shooting in Ohio and Texas when he shouted: "Hey Congress, do something now. End gun violence. Let's go!"
In the space of 14 hours, a total of 29 people have died in two American mass shootings.
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In El Paso, Texas, a gunman opened fire at customers in Walmart, leaving 20 people dead and another 26 wounded. Hours later, nine people were killed and 27 injured when a gunman opened fire in a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio.
USA international Bedoya gave his thoughts on gun policy ahead of kick-off.
"Seeing more thoughts and prayers bullshit." he said on Twitter. "Words without actions are just worthless. America, it seems, is becoming a dystopian society. Do something!!! Enough!!!"
Bedoya grew up in Florida, Parkland, where 17 students were killed in 2018 in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
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He says he couldn't watch such incidents happen again and say nothing:
"To see that happen again, it's absurd, I am not going to sit idly and watch this stuff and not say something," he said in a post match interview
"Before I'm an athlete and a soccer player, I am a human being, first. I have got kids - I can't be the only one feeling the same way.
"Something has got to be done, it has got to the point where we have become numb to it, that is a big problem."
Philadelphia Union went on to win the match 5-1 thanks to goals from Bedoya, Marco Fabian (2), Kacper Przybylko and Fafa Picault.
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But it was the actions of their captain that will be remembered more than Sunday's full-time result.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, MLS, DC United
