Former NFL punter arrested for protest against pro-Trump city council
Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was arrested Tuesday for his protest at a city council meeting targeting President Trump’s influence in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Kluwe attended a city council meeting to protest the city’s decision to display a plaque in the public library that uses the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing,” and “Adventurous,” which spelled out MAGA, NBC News reported.
All members of the city council are Republicans.
During the public comment, Kluwe, a former punter for the Minnesota Vikings, directed his comments at the seven members. He said it was clear the council didn’t want to listen to him, so he was instead going to use his speaking time to “say what MAGA has stood for” over the last month of Trump’s second term.
“MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for resegregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds to education, including for disabled children,” Kluwe said.
“MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably antidemocracy, and, most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement,” he continued, earning applause from the crowd. “You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.”
Kluwe, 43, then said he would be engaging with the “time honored American tradition” of peaceful civil disobedience.
The punter-turned-activist walked on the council floor and toward the council members, prompting law enforcement officials to place him in handcuffs and carry him out of the establishment.
In a statement to The Hill, Gracey Van Der Mark, a councilwoman, said she was grateful for the "swift and professional" response from law enforcement.
"Mr. Kluwe's actions were both irresponsible and clearly intended to draw attention rather than foster meaningful dialogue," Van Der Mark said. "While he claimed to be engaging in a peaceful protest, there was nothing peaceful about rushing dais and causing alarm among those in attendance, including two young students present at the meeting."
Kluwe was in the NFL from 2005-13. He published an op-ed claiming he was released from the Vikings after speaking out in support of same-sex marriage and being vocal about the Catholic Church. The NFL team denied he was cut due to his personal beliefs.
Updated at 9:05 p.m. EST.
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