Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe arrested, carried out of Huntington Beach council meeting

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was arrested and carried out of a Huntington Beach (Calif.) City Council meeting by local police Tuesday evening after what he described as “peaceful civil disobedience,” according to the Orange County Register.

The 43-year-old Kluwe, who retired from the NFL in 2013, was arrested after stepping from behind a lectern during the public comment portion of the meeting and approaching the councilmembers’ dais, prompting Hunting Beach police officers to swarm him, tackle him to the ground, put him in handcuffs and carry him out of the council chambers.

Kluwe was protesting a proposed plaque celebrating the 50th anniversary of a local library that reportedly prominently featured the “MAGA” acronym on it. The original plaque design, according to the Register, had the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing,” and “Adventurous” to spell out “MAGA” with a statement below that read: “Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!”

The plaque was ultimately approved Tuesday night, albeit with a slightly altered design, according to the Register.

Kluwe spoke against the proposed “MAGA” plaque by explaining “what the MAGA phrase exemplifies to him, including erasing transgender people from existence, book bans, and ‘firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing,'” per the Register.

Upon concluding his public comments, Kluwe said he’d “engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience” and stepped toward the dais where the councilmembers were seated.

Kluwe was cited and released by Huntington Beach police after spending four hours in custody, Kluwe told the the Orange County Register, adding the police were professional throughout.

“This was done not with the intention of changing the council’s mind, because I don’t think those minds can be changed,” Kluwe told the Register. “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.”

Kluwe played nine seasons in the NFL from 2005-13, appearing in 127 games with the Minnesota Vikings during that span. Kluwe went undrafted out of UCLA in 2005 and signed with the Seattle Seahawks before being released and landing in Minnesota the regular season. He was also a member of the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad in 2013 before ultimately retiring from football.