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Sunday night as the Philadelphia Union battled D.C. United in the nation’s capital, midfielder Alejandro Bedoya capped off a mesmerizing team sequence with a low finish that evaded Bill Hamid and crept into the left netting.
Immediately rushing the sideline to hug a pair of fans, Bedoya then raced to the field mic, ripped off the cover and screamed,
HOLY SHIT BEDOYA JUST YELLED A POLITICAL STATEMENT ON GUN VIOLENCE INTO THE MIC ON THE PITCH WHAT JUST HAPPENED pic.twitter.com/6u7O4ix2fa
— Jay W. Riddle (@jaywriddle) August 4, 2019
HEY CONGRESS!
DO SOMETHING NOW!!!
END GUN VIOLENCE!
LET’S GO!
A powerful statement to say the least. As we all know, a pair of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton over the weekend claimed the lives of 29 people, the latter of which was the 251st mass shooting of 2019. Regardless of political ideology, we can all agree we’re losing too many lives in this country to senseless gun violence.
We applaud Alejandro for taking a stand. We applaud Jim Curtin for standing by his player and avoiding politically correct gibberish. Finally, we would like to applaud the league for not taking disciplinary action against the Union midfielder.
Jim Curtin on Alejandro Bedoya: “I’m on his side.” pic.twitter.com/vU2zI1gcuP
— Joe Tansey (@JTansey90) August 5, 2019
Sometimes you just have to take a stand. MLS may have experienced this first hand earlier in the week when a controversial decision by the league to expel anti-fascist imagery made headlines. Just days later, white supremacist groups infiltrated a Sounders match. Coincidence? What do you think?
Inaction is a form of action.
Letter from the Editor: The fight over the Iron Front flag
Fans can't even attend an MLS match without being assaulted by white nationalists. https://t.co/2wgli5e3Fs pic.twitter.com/Z51m30HLbt
— Jay W. Riddle (@jaywriddle) August 5, 2019