Former NFL player Chris Kluwe has been arrested for protesting against a commemorative plaque at a Californian library that references MAGA with the words “Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous.”
In a protest speech against the plaque marking Huntington Beach Central Library’s 50th anniversary Kluwe said: “MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.”
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Kluwe for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The battle over the plaque is the latest flashpoint in a broader culture war fueled by Trump’s campaign slogans and policies, deepening divides beyond Washington and into local communities, especially where broader Californian liberal attitudes seem challenged. The Huntington Beach City Council has become a focal point of these debates, advancing an agenda aligned with Trump’s Republican Party and the MAGA movement since a conservative majority took control over a year ago.
In 2023, the council voted to remove books deemed sexually explicit from the teen section of the library, restricted who could deliver opening prayers at meetings, and removed the three liberal council members from board and commission assignments. In January, Mayor Pat Burns declared the city a “non-sanctuary” jurisdiction, supporting Trump’s mass deportation policies.
What To Know
Kluwe was giving a speech at a City Council meeting on Tuesday in protest of the plaque when he was arrested and carried out by police, the Daily Pilot reported.
“MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands resegregation and racism,” Kluwe said in a video of his address posted to social media. “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. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide.”
