Former NFL player arrested after calling MAGA a 'Nazi movement' at city council meeting

20 February

Chris Kluwe — who was a punter for the Minnesota Vikings between 2005 and 2012 — was recently arrested and carried out of a city council meeting by police after a viral speech.

Sports writer Dov Kleiman tweeted the video of Kluwe's speech at a Huntington Beach, California city council meeting on Tuesday night, in which the retired punter used his allotted 60 seconds to condemn President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement at large. While California is typically regarded as a reliably blue state, Huntington Beach is considered a Republican stronghold. Kluwe kicked off his speech by telling council members that he is a 15-year resident of the city and wanted to speak out against the current council and its plans for a MAGA plaque at a local library.

"I'd like to take my time to talk about 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. 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, opioid addiction, and medical issues related to burn pits. MAGA stands for cutting funds to education, including for disabled children."

Kluwe went on to assert that MAGA "stands for hate, and fear, and the idea that we should have a king instead of co-equal branches of government." He argued that MAGA's philosophy was "profoundly corrupt" and "unmistakeably anti-democracy," while also calling it "explicitly a Nazi movement."

"Every single thing MAGA stands for is what the Nazis did," the retired NFL punter said. "Eugenics. Racism. Blind loyalty to the leader over what benefits the community as a whole. Removal or destruction of knowledge deemed "unsavory." Removal of groups deemed "unsavory." Sustained assaults on science, reason, and logic. Ceaseless propaganda that has no basis in reality. The promotion of fools, imbeciles, and charlatans to positions of power."

Toward the end of his speech, Kluwe looked at the assembled council members on the dais and said he would "now engage in the time-honored American tradition of civil disobedience." He then walked past the lectern toward council members while several police officers swarmed him and put him on the ground face-first.

Kluwe said later on Bluesky that he was charged with "disrupting an assembly," and that he sustained minor cuts and scratches while police were restraining him.

Watch the video of Kluwe's speech below, or by clicking this link. And click here to read the full three-minute version of his speech.

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