Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya used his goal celebration in Sunday’s MLS game at DC United to call on Congress to act on gun violence, following a pair of mass shootings in the U.S. this weekend.
After scoring at Audi Field in the nation’s capital, Bedoya ran toward the corner of the field, grabbed a television microphone and shouted into it.
“Hey Congress, do something now. End gun violence. Let’s go!” he said.
The comment was easily heard on FS1’s broadcast of the game but were not audible for the majority of those in attendance at the stadium.
Bedoya’s remarks come in the wake of the shooting Saturday in El Paso, Texas, that left 20 dead and more than two dozen injured, and one in Dayton, Ohio, in the early hours of Sunday morning that killed nine people and injured at least 27.
The Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians were among the baseball teams who held a moment of silence for the victims before their games on Sunday. NASCAR also observed a moment of silence before Sunday’s race in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
The U.S. women’s national soccer team also took a moment to remember the El Paso victims before Saturday night’s game against Ireland in Pasadena, California.
Bedoya, 32, is a United States international who last played for the national team in 2017. He is from Weston, Florida, a short distance from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of another mass shooting in February 2018.
Following that incident, Bedoya wore a shirt reading “MSD Strong” under his jersey for last season’s opening game.