The former NFL punter was detained and escorted out of the meeting after voicing his protest against a MAGA plaque scheduled for installation at the public library.
Former UCLA and Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe explained today that his frustration with Democratic leaders’ responses to President Trump’s second administration motivated him to seek arrest at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting.
Kluwe—who gained national attention in 2012 for advocating same-sex marriage—used his public comment time at Tuesday night’s meeting to denounce the Make America Great Again movement, comparing it to Nazi ideology. He then deliberately approached the council members, fully expecting to be arrested for misdemeanor disturbing an assembly.
“This is my first deliberate act of civil disobedience,” Kluwe told City News Service on Wednesday. “For me, it’s an action I’d love to see our elected Democratic leaders take today, because frankly, they’re ineffective.” The retired punter expressed his hope that more Democrats in Washington would get arrested as a way to oppose the president’s platform.
“This is my first act of willful civil disobedience,” Kluwe told City News Service Wednesday. “For me, it’s the fact that it’s something I’d like to see our elected Democratic officials would do now because, frankly, they’re useless.”
The retired punter wishes more Democrats in Washington would get arrested to resist the president’s platform.
Kluwe emphasized that he won’t ask others to do something he wouldn’t do himself, noting that his time in football taught him the importance of leading by example. “You’ve got to show you’re willing to take action too,” he said. He mentioned that he spent roughly four hours in custody—mostly handling paperwork—and praised the Huntington Beach Police Department for their professionalism and courtesy, adding that he had no complaints about his treatment.
As part of the city library’s 50th anniversary, the city council approved adding “Magical Alluring Galvanizing Adventurous,” or MAGA, to a plaque to hang at the library. It also includes “Through hope and change, our
nation has built back better to the golden age of Making America Great Again.”
“Hope and change” was then-Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign slogan during his victorious 2008 presidential campaign while Joe Biden used the phrase “Build back better” during his winning 2020 campaign.
Kluwe, 43, said he grew up in the Seal Beach area. He starred at Los Alamitos High School and went on to play for UCLA. He punted for the Minnesota Vikings from 2005-12.
“I moved back here and have been a resident for like 15 years,” Kluwe said. “The Huntington Beach Library is widely regarded in the surrounding area as one of the best things about Huntington Beach. The library is a civic treasure.”
Kluwe said he objected to the phrase on the plaque because “a library is neutral ground.”
Kluwe noted that most of the attendees at last week’s library commission meeting opposed the wording on the plaque. He asserted that, as currently defined, the MAGA movement is essentially a Nazi organization—there’s no other interpretation—and argued that debating whether someone deserves to exist mirrors the dangerous ideology of the Nazis.
Addressing efforts to remove references to transgender people from federal documents, Kluwe criticized the White House for issuing an order that denies the existence of trans people, claiming that such an action is as authoritarian as Nazi policies. He argued that this move is part of a broader attempt to consolidate power by dictating what people must do—a concept he described as fundamentally un-American. He reminded listeners that the United States was founded in opposition to kings and tyrants, emphasizing that everything the Trump administration and the MAGA movement are doing aims to establish a dictatorship.
When Kluwe was arrested, the council called for a recess and did not revisit his remarks when they resumed. The plaque was approved unanimously, and Kluwe is scheduled to appear in court on the misdemeanor charge on April 16.
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