Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe called for “peaceful civil disobedience” and “no kings” Thursday in the wake of his highly publicized arrest at a Southern California city council meeting earlier this week.
Kluwe was taken into custody Tuesday night after appearing at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting and labeling President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” supporters a fascist movement.
“I appreciate everyone’s messages of support, I’m trying to get through all my mentions but as you can imagine, it’s been a bit of a busy day,” Kluwe wrote to his Bluesky followers Thursday. “Remember — peaceful civil disobedience, and no kings, no tyrants. Not ever.”
Kluwe, who punted in Minnesota for eight seasons, took the podium during Tuesday night’s public comment section of the Huntington Beach City Council meeting, expressing his opposition to the city honoring Trump.
A city commission approved the purchase and installation of a plaque at the library with stacked words: Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous — thus spelling MAGA, the polarizing slogan used by Trump and his supporters.
Kluwe said he’s been living in Huntington Beach for 15 years and opposes the spending of public funds on the apparent Trump tribute.
The former player ran through a long list of topics on which he takes issue with Trump, including rights for transgender people; academic freedom; cutbacks at the Federal Aviation Administration “while planes are crashing“; “firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal“; “firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA“; and a White House effort to disband the Education Department.
“‘MAGA’ is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy and, most importantly, ‘MAGA’ is explicitly a Nazi movement,” he said in video of the meeting, drawing applause from the audience. “You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that’s what it is.”
He then added: “I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience.”
The video then showed the 6-foot-4 Kluwe take several steps toward council members before he was met by a police officer, then at least two more rushed to him.
Kluwe did not appear to resist his arrest. He was placed face down and handcuffed before going limp, forcing three police officers to carry him out of the chamber.
The 43-year-old former football player has been a longtime, outspoken proponent of LGBTQ rights. Kluwe urged others who oppose Trump and his agenda to do the same.
Trump called himself a “king” Wednesday for trying to prevent New York from imposing tolls on cars entering Manhattan to raise funds for mass transit infrastructure upgrades.
“I’m never going to ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do myself,” Kluwe told City News Service on Wednesday. “That’s one of the things I learned from football — basic leadership. You’ve got to prove you’re willing to do it too.”
Kluwe grew up in nearby Seal Beach before moving on to UCLA, where he graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
He said the protest cost him about four hours behind bars.
“A lot of it was paperwork,” he said. “The Huntington Beach Police Department was very professional and courteous. I have no complaints about how I was treated.”
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