Union’s Alejandro Bedoya went to the White House for President Biden’s signing of the gun control bill

“It’s just a shame that we live in a country where gun violence is so pervasive," the Union's captain said. "I don’t think we should be living in a society like that.”

Alejandro Bedoya of the Union celebrates his goal against FC Cincinnati during their game on June 18 at Subaru Park.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 12, 2022, 4:26 p.m. ET

Last Wednesday, Union captain Alejandro Bedoya got an email he wasn’t expecting: an invitation from the White House to attend President Joe Biden’s signing of the bipartisan gun control bill that Congress passed last month.

The event was to be the following Monday, which happened to be jammed between Union games on Friday and Wednesday. But this was a big enough deal that he knew he had to go, and Union manager Jim Curtin felt the same way.

So Bedoya cleared his day and headed to D.C. with his Norwegian-born wife, Bea Hilland, to join a large gathering for the ceremony. Along with the president’s staff, there were representatives from the anti-gun violence nonprofit organization Everytown, and advocates on the subject from a range of backgrounds.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to attend something like that,” Bedoya told The Inquirer after he returned to practice in Chester to prepare for Wednesday’s game at Inter Miami (8 p.m., PHL17). “Like I’ve always said in the past, there’s some things that are more important than soccer — I think this is one of those that affects daily lives of all Americans across this country. So it was just a neat experience for me and my wife to be able to be there.”

It was Bedoya’s first trip to the White House. Although the 2010 U.S. men’s World Cup team visited before that year’s tournament, the 2014 squad did not before going to Brazil. But Bedoya had met Biden before, as the then-vice president attended the 2014 U.S. win over Ghana and visited the U.S. locker room afterward.

Bedoya also knew that Biden attended the Union’s inaugural home game in 2010. He mentioned being from Philadelphia, which Biden appreciated, but their conversation lasted only a few seconds.

“It’s cool just to be there, and for my wife, too,” Bedoya said, “just to be in the presence of the president at the White House, no matter what.”

‘When you reach across the aisle’

Three years ago, Bedoya gained the national spotlight when after scoring a goal in a nationally-televised game at D.C. United, he ran over to a microphone on the field and shouted: “Hey, Congress: Do something now! End gun violence! Let’s go!”

Bedoya has remained outspoken on the subject ever since — through all the high-profile mass shootings, school terror, police shootings of Black people, and much more than he ever wanted to put up with.

As recently as late May, he was part of a teamwide protest by the Union in which all the players wore orange T-shirts with the message “END GUN VIOLENCE” in warmups before a game, and he spoke at length afterward.

Recently, Bedoya has felt a shift in the nation’s sensibilities about wanting to finally do something about all the violence and death.

“You can see now, with this bipartisan bill, that when you reach across the aisle and really discuss things on merit, and when the sensibility is at the highest it’s probably been in a while, things are able to get done,” Bedoya said. “It’s not what I think a lot of Americans would totally want, you know, but I think it’s a step in the right direction, and it will definitely save lives.”

He definitely noticed when the U.S. men’s soccer team issued a public letter to Congress in early June demanding action on gun control. It was a rare move by the team as an institution, not just individual players, to speak on a subject when some people would demand that the players stick to sports.

“It shows real courage, but also that things need to change,” said Bedoya, who earned 66 national team caps from 2010-17. “Because we all love this country, we think America is probably the greatest country in the world, and most people would agree with that. But there’s definitely things that can improve, and that’s what we’re here for — to make our lives better, to make the lives of everybody around us better.”

‘It’s just all the time’

The subject has come up in the Union locker room, too. Many players who have come here from other countries find the proliferation of guns bewildering.

“We have 15 different countries represented here, and folks from most of those countries don’t have to live in fear,” Bedoya said “The guys from Scandinavia, for the most part, they leave their doors unlocked [in their home countries] and things like that — they can’t imagine doing that here. … We get notifications on our phones just like you guys do, and whenever something pops up, it’s just all the time, again, what’s going on?”

So Bedoya takes the time to talk with them about it, in the locker room or on flights to and from road games.

“When these things happen, you start talking about it, and of course, you talk about your concerns with what can happen,” he said. “It’s just a shame that we live in a country where gun violence is so pervasive, and a daily occurrence in our lives. I don’t think we should be living in a society like that.”