Chris Kluwe, a former NFL punter who was arrested during a Huntington Beach, California, City Council meeting, said Wednesday he wants other officials to “start engaging in civil disobedience.”
The NFL veteran spoke against a plaque with a “MAGA” acronym being placed outside the city’s library for its 50th anniversary. The plaque will have the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing” and “Adventurous” next to each other. It will also read, “Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!”
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Former Minnesota Vikings NFL player Chris Kluwe joins a small group of protesters outside the Pelican Hill Country Club where then-Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to attend a luncheon fundraiser, in Newport Beach, California, on Oct. 9, 2017. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
The ex-NFL player then performed his “peaceful civil disobedience” as he rushed toward the councilmembers before he was arrested and carried out by police officers. He was later charged with disrupting an assembly.
Kluwe has been a longstanding critic of President Donald Trump and compared the “Make America Great Again” campaign to a “Nazi movement.” He told the Daily Pilot on Wednesday he wanted other “democratic elected officials” to follow him.
“I want our elected democratic officials to start engaging in civil disobedience,” he told the outlet. “People need to be aware that what’s going on with this administration is leading us down a really dark path. Right now, no one is willing to step up and do that. So, if I want to ask them to do it, then I have to be willing to do it too.”
Ex-NFL punter Chris Kluwe protests during the Huntington Beach City Council meeting. (City of Huntington Beach)
Kluwe added criticism toward council members.
“People are speaking out because that’s the American thing to do,” he said. “You’re a public citizen, your voice should be heard. But it’s very disheartening when your elected officials are not listening to your voice …
“It is profoundly un-American to do what this council is doing, and I think there are a lot of people in this community that get that. At a very visceral level, what we are seeing is not how America is supposed to work.”
Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, #5, walks off the field after the game against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. (Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports)
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Gracey Van Der Mark, a city council member and former Huntington Beach mayor, defended the “beautiful conservative city” and said Kluwe got his “five minutes of fame.”
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