The White Sox held a moment of silence before their game against the Twins on Monday and canceled the Fourth of July fireworks planned for postgame after a mass shooting at a suburban Chicago Independence Day parade left six people dead and at least 24 injured.
Pitcher Liam Hendriks was asked about the shooting and he had a lot to get off his chest.
“Something needs to change,” Hendriks told reporters. “Something needs to be done, something needs to happen, because there’s way too many people losing their lives.
“It’s not only about the people that lose their lives. The families of that, the tragedy they go through, the entire community when people are concerned about leaving the house, concerned about doing the day-to-day things of going to work or any number of these things.”
The White Sox released a statement Monday that expressed the organization’s “deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of [Monday’s] horrific shooting and all of those who have been affected by this tragedy.”
When asked for his view on American gun culture, Hendriks, who’s Australian, called it “baffling.”
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“That’s what America is known for,” Hendriks said. “There’s a lot of things that are good over here, but you look at the negatives and it’s just the complete…
“I can walk into a store as a non-American and buy a handgun in certain states. That baffles me. I had to take a driving test when I was over here.
“I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.”
Hendriks added “we really need to reflect on what’s going on.”
“Too many people are dying and it’s no excuse to be on this side or that side,” he said. “That’s no excuse. At some point, things need to get done.
“It’s getting to the point where civilization as you know it may be ending because there’s two drastically different sides.
“Something needs to change, something needs to happen, and it needs to happen quick.”
Police identified 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III as a person of interest in the shooting and have since taken him into custody.
