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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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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.
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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.
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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."
He added: "MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy, and, most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.
"I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience," he said, before approaching the dais where the City Council was seated. He was then subdued by several officers and carried out of the council chamber.
Kluwe did not resist the arrest, and told the Daily Pilot on Wednesday in an interview that he told police to carry him out of the chamber.
"I made sure I warned the officers I was going to the ground," Kluwe said. "Then I told them, 'I'm going to stay limp, you guys got to carry me out of here.'"
Kluwe said he spent four hours in jail before he was released. He was cited by police with disrupting an assembly.
Culture War Flares
Despite his protest, the council approved the plan to install the plaque. At a previous meeting of the library's board last week, some 40 people, including Kluwe, spoke out against the plaque, while six spoke in favor of it.
Former council member Natalie Moser was among those opposing the plan, calling the commemorative plaque "political propaganda disguised as a celebration."
More than 300 people also sent emails against the plaque.
However, some also defended it. Jeanne Paris, a member of the Community and Library Services Commission, said: "Make America great is not a racist comment."
Council member Chad Williams added: " The issue isn't with the meaning of the words. The issue, it seems, with some folks would be, who said it. Because when Ronald Reagan said it, it was no problem. When Bill Clinton said the words, 'Make America great again,' it was no problem. It seems to not be an issue with the meaning of the words, it seems to be an issue for some with who said it."
The library's board approved the plaque by a 6-0 vote.
According to KTLA, the Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous slogan appears to be a new slogan created specifically for the plaque, with no ties to the official verbiage or brand identity of Huntington Beach or its public library system.
Who Is Chris Kluwe?
Kluwe played eight seasons in the NFL, all with the Minnesota Vikings after signing with the team in 2005 as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA.
He has frequently spoken out about social issues including same sex marriage.
What People Are Saying
After his arrest, Chris Kluwe told the Daily Pilot: "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.
"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."
City Council member Gracey Van Der Mark told the Daily Pilot: "It is OK for us to have our beautiful conservative city. We respect everyone. We're not out there attacking people who don't think like us, we're not out there running across and trying to intimidate people who don't agree with us ... The city of Huntington Beach has always been conservative, and they tried to change that, and we're just taking it back to the way it was. If I wanted to live in a liberal city with liberal values, I would have stayed in Los Angeles."
Van Der Mark, who reportedly proposed the idea for the plaque, condemned Kluwe's remarks, calling them an insult to Jewish people who support President Trump, saying: "He wanted his five minutes of fame, and that's what he got."
What Happens Next
The plaque is now set to be installed outside the library, according to a staff report. Community and Library Services Committee Chairman Austin Edsell reportedly said at last week's meeting that the plaque would be paid for through private donations.
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