Former NFL punter arrested for standing up to MAGA: here’s what happened

On Tuesday, former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, an outspoken activist for the LGBTQ community, was arrested at a city council meeting in Huntington Beach, California as he and some other residents protested a plaque at the public library.

Why Chris Kluwe was arrested for protesting MAGA

Kluwe was at the meeting to protest a plaque at the public library, which reads “Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous”, spelling out MAGA, the political movement popularized by president Donald Trump. Below that are these words: “Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!”

Kluwe and the other residents called the plaque a “propaganda statement” due to the reference of the MAGA movement. He told the seven members of the city council what MAGA meant to him.

“Unfortunately it’s clear that this council doesn’t listen, so instead I’m gonna take my time to say what MAGA has stood for these past three weeks,” Kluwe said.

“MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for resegregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans.”

He then called the MAGA movement an “explicitly Nazi movement” and said that he would “engage in the time-honored American tradition of civil disobedience”. He stepped towards the council members, but was quickly detained.

The Huntington Beach police arrested Kluwe and carried him out of the room by the arms and legs. He spent four hours in custody and was later released.

Kluwe told the Orange County Register that he performed this act of “peaceful civil disobedience” to show others how important it is to stand up for the rights of others.

“This was done not with the intention of changing the council’s mind, because I don’t think those minds can be changed,” Kluwe said. “It was done so that people who are watching and people who will watch understand that this is important enough to get arrested for. That it’s important to stand up and speak truth to power and to do so in a way that other people can emulate.”

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