Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was taken down by police and hauled out of a Huntington Seashore Metropolis Council assembly after talking out towards President Donald Trump and his MAGA motion and protesting within the chamber.
Kluwe, who spent eight seasons within the NFL, spoke throughout public feedback towards plans to incorporate a MAGA reference within the design of a library plaque in Huntington Seashore, California, the place he has lived for 15 years.
He instructed the council what he believes MAGA has stood for since Trump returned to workplace final month:
“MAGA stands for making an attempt to erase trans individuals from existence. MAGA stands for resegregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and guide bans. MAGA stands for firing air site visitors controllers whereas planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the individuals overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing navy veterans and people serving them on the VA, together with canceling analysis on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for slicing funds to training, together with for disabled kids.”
“MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy and most significantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi motion,” mentioned Kluwe, as cheers erupted from the viewers. “You might have changed a swastika with a purple hat, however that’s what it’s.”
When he was executed talking, Kluwe mentioned he would “have interaction within the time-honored American custom of peaceable civil disobedience.”
He left the audio system’ lectern and took a few steps towards the council dais however was intercepted by a number of law enforcement officials who took him down, cuffed him and carried him out of the chamber.
The police log reveals that Kluwe was arrested for disrupting a public meeting. Kluwe mentioned on Bluesky that police had been “well mannered {and professional}” and that he spent about 4 hours in custody.
“I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 (the metallic bench in my cell may’ve used some cushions),” he snarked.
He additionally posted a Google Docs hyperlink to an prolonged model of feedback with citations for all the pieces he mentioned.
Town council unanimously accredited the plaque on the assembly, though the design was tweaked, in line with KTLA. The station notes that every one seven members are conservatives.
Gracey Van Der Mark, a member of town council, instructed The Hill that there was “nothing peaceable” about Kluwe’s actions and accused him of “inflicting alarm amongst these in attendance, together with two younger college students.”
Kluwe has been outspoken on civil rights and LGBTQ+ points over time, advocating for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ acceptance even when he was a participant.
When the Minnesota Vikings launched him after seven seasons in 2013, there was hypothesis it was as a consequence of his activism off the sector relatively than his efficiency on it.
Kluwe mentioned talking out was well worth the threat.
“[I]f it finally ends up being one thing that prices me that place, I believe making individuals conscious of a difficulty that’s inflicting kids to commit suicide is extra necessary than kicking a leather-based ball,” he instructed the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on the time.
See his look on town’s reside feed under: