Galaxy Linebacker Sasha Klestan has long been one of MLS’s most thoughtful and outspoken players, often using social media to comment on matters outside of football.
On Monday, after an assist by his team 4-0 win over Montreal, Klestan agreed to appear at the post-match press conference but declined to talk about the match.
Instead, he issued an emotional appeal for gun control following another mass shooting that left six people dead and at least 30 injured. Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
“In fact, I will be brief and will not answer any questions about the game. I’m not kidding,” began Klestan, whose 13-minute appearance from the bench was his first in almost two months. “I’m sick of what’s going on in Illinois today. And I think we need to talk about gun control. You guys can write about the game if you want, but I don’t really give anything. It’s a painful vicious cycle that repeats itself over and over and we do nothing about it. And it makes me sick.
“I don’t know, Congress, senators, if anyone sees this, do something. Our children get hurt, and we think and pray, and it doesn’t work. And then we talk about it on social media and it doesn’t work. But our government does nothing. And then someone gets shot again.
“So he’s sick. It pissed me off, and, for example, I can’t even think about anything else … I don’t even know what to say. I am not a politician, but I am a man. My kids… I’m scared for them when they go to school and it makes me mad. And I think if that doesn’t piss you off and you don’t want new gun laws in this country, then something is wrong with [you]. So I guess that’s all I have to say.”
Galaktika midfielder Sasha Klestan (center) celebrates after scoring a penalty in the 2021 season.
(ASSOCIATE PRESS)
In 2019, days after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, Alejandro Bedoya of the Philadelphia Union, Klestan’s former Team USA teammate, grabbed an open mic on the field after scoring a goal in a nationally televised match and made his own strong call for gun control,
“Congress, do something now. Stop gun violence!” Bedoya shouted into a microphone at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. “Let’s go!”
A couple of days later, Bedoya was voted the league’s player of the week.
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A police officer holds police tape at the scene of a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, on Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Yu Ha/Associated Press)
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HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS – JULY 04: Law enforcement escorts a family from the shooting scene at the Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, IL. According to released reports, police detained 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III in connection with the shooting, which left six people dead and 19 injured. (Photo by Mark Borenstein/Getty Images) (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)
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HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS – JUL 04: Law enforcement officers search the scene of a shooting at the Fourth of July Parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, IL. According to released reports, police detained 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III in connection with the shooting, which left six people dead and 19 injured. (Photo by Mark Borenstein/Getty Images) (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)
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Empty chairs are seen on the street after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Yu Ha/Associated Press)
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Law enforcement conducts a search following a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Yu Ha/Associated Press)
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A woman looks outside from her home after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Yu Ha/Associated Press)
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People look at the Highland Park Police Department after Robert E. Crime III was taken into custody following a mass shooting at the July 4th parade in Highland Park in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Monday, July 4, 2022 of the year. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Yu Ha/Associated Press)
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A Lake County police officer walks down Central Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois. on Monday, July 4, 2022, after a shooter fired on a Fourth of July parade in the northern suburbs. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP) (Brian Cassella / AP)
