Former NFL punter gets tackled by police and arrested over ‘civil disobedience’ protest against MAGA plaque

A former NFL player spoke out against President Donald Trump at a city council meeting but was tackled and arrested after approaching the council members in “civil disobedience.”

Chris Kluwe read out a list of accusations against the “Make America Great Again” movement on Tuesday to the city council of Huntington Beach in California before several officers took him down.

‘You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.’

The plaque apparently displays the word “MAGA” through the first letter of several words. The council is composed of Republicans, and Huntington Beach is well known as a pro-Trump town.

“I’m gonna take my time to say what MAGA has stood for these past three weeks,” said Kluwe.

“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,” he added.

“MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds for education, including funds for disabled children. MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakenly anti-democracy, and most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement,” Kluwe said.

“You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is,” he concluded. “I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience.”

He was charged with disrupting an assembly and said that he was released after four hours in custody.

Video of the arrest was posted to social media, where it can still be viewed.

The 43-year-old atheist mostly played as a punter for the Minnesota Vikings but also played for the Raiders as well as the Seattle Seahawks.

Kluwe was known for his outspoken political views, including his support for same-sex marriage and his criticism of homophobia in professional football. He was also among those who mocked Rush Limbaugh on the occasion of his death in 2021.

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