Ex-NFL Star Chris Kluwe Forcibly Removed From Meeting Following Anti-MAGA Tirade

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was arrested Tuesday night at a Huntington Beach city council meeting after delivering a passionate speech in which he compared the MAGA movement to the Nazi party.

Chris Kluwe, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 2005 to 2012, attended the meeting alongside other local residents to protest a controversial plaque displayed in the city’s public library.

The plaque, which features the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing,” and “Adventurous,” appeared to spell out “MAGA," a reference to President Donald Trump’s political slogan. Critics, including Kluwe, slammed the display as “propaganda.”

While addressing city officials, Kluwe did not hold back, making his stance on the MAGA movement abundantly clear. He argued that the acronym has come to represent policies and actions that threaten democracy and civil rights.

“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,” Kluwe said during his speech.

He continued his criticism, adding:

“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 then made his most controversial claim of the night, stating, “MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy, and, most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.”

Following his remarks, Kluwe escalated the situation by announcing he was going to engage in “peaceful civil disobedience” and began walking toward the city council members.

At that moment, officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department quickly moved in, grabbing Kluwe, handcuffing him, and leading him out of City Hall.

The dramatic incident was captured on video, with clips circulating across social media. Kluwe was arrested and charged with disturbance of an assembly but was released four hours later.

Kluwe has long been known for his outspoken political views and activism, often using his platform to advocate for social justice issues.

During a December 2012 game against the Chicago Bears, Chris Kluwe made a bold statement by covering the Pro Football Hall of Fame patch on his uniform with a Post-it note that read “Vote Ray Guy.” The gesture was a protest against the Hall’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, highlighting the absence of pure punters in the Hall of Fame.

The NFL fined Kluwe $5,250 for the uniform violation, but his advocacy didn’t go unnoticed. Just two years later, in 2014, Ray Guy was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame, becoming the first true punter to receive the honor.

Then in 2014, he publicly claimed that the Vikings released him because of his support for same-sex marriage, though the team denied any wrongdoing.

"Some will ask if the NFL has a problem with institutionalized homophobia. I don't think it does," he wrote in his lengthy letter published to Deadspin. "I think there are homophobic people in the NFL, in all positions, but that's true for society as well, and those people eventually get replaced. All we can do is try to expose their behavior when we see it and call them to account for their actions."

The Vikings swiftly denied the allegations, stating that Kluwe's release was based purely on football decisions. However, just a day later, the team announced that they had appointed Eric Magnuson, former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and Chris Madel, a former U.S. attorney, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

His latest arrest is yet another example of his willingness to take bold and controversial stands, making it clear that he isn’t backing down from his political activism anytime soon.