Latest news with #Kluwe
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chris Kluwe got arrested protesting MAGA. He's still protesting because 'it's the right thing to do'
Over a month after he was arrested for peacefully protesting at a city council meeting, Chris Kluwe hasn't been deterred from attending and speaking out. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. The author and former kicker for the Minnesota Vikings is again going viral for giving an impassioned speech at a city council meeting — this time in Aliso Viejo, to voice his opposition to a proposal that would prohibit flying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag at government buildings. "It's the right thing to do," Kluwe tells The Advocate. "Speaking out isn't a crime yet. I mean, unless you happen to be a university student who's here on a green card. We still have a chance to save our country, and part of that work means showing up and speaking if you have a platform." Kluwe attended the meeting after hearing about the resolution despite it being proposed in a town neighboring his home of Huntington Beach — about a 40-minute drive through southern California traffic. He said during his remarks that he wanted to urge the city to "not make the same mistakes that Huntington Beach made." "This is not what America's about. We have a president that is proclaiming executive orders trying to erase trans people from existence, and you say that the American flag includes everyone," Kluwe said in his speech. "For over 100 years, the American flag stood for slavery, and we had a war to fix that. For 90 years after that, it stood for segregation, and people took to the streets to get rid of that." "I do not want the American flag to stand for hatred and discrimination, and flying the Pride flag shows people that we understand that," he continued. "That we understand these communities are oppressed, that they need to be shown that this is a safe place for them, that this is a city where they will not be dragged behind someone's truck until they are dead, where they will not be jumped and murdered simply for who they are." Kluwe then walked away from the podium waving a small Pride flag as the audience applauded. The ban, brought forth by conservative councilmember Mike Munzing, ultimately failed to pass shortly after midnight when Munzing ripped up his printed copy of the proposal and motioned to withdraw the resolution. His withdrawal was approved 5-0. Kluwe was arrested at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting in February after peacefully protesting the installation of a plaque referencing Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan in a local library. He was charged with a misdemeanor for disrupting a public assembly, and the plaque ultimately went up — but not without national scrutiny hitting the city. Kluwe's arraignment date has been set for April 16. He has hired a criminal defense attorney, but says he hasn't "heard anything from the city, so I have no idea if they're going to continue to press charges or not." "The smartest thing the city could do would be to drop them just to make the circus stop," Kluwe says. "I don't really see any win for them in continuing to drag this out, because that's just going to bring more public attention to Huntington Beach. It's not going to be good public attention, and it's gonna be really obvious why they're doing it." Kluwe, who has been critical of Republicans' "fascism" as well as Democrats' inaction, says that it's "a very welcome sign" to see the recent push back against the Trump Administration, particularly from elected officials. As a "peaceful, law abiding citizen," Kluwe says "I don't really want to be doing these things — I want you to do your job." "We need people like Cory Booker essentially filibustering for over 24 hours, only next time we need it to happen on actual appointments," he says. "We need people like Adam Schiff saying he's going to put a hold on the U.S. or D.C. District Attorney because the guy's just an out of control lunatic. We need our Congress to do their jobs, which is to reign in a runaway executive." Kluwe will be speaking at the 50501 Movement's People's Veto Day event in Los Angeles on Saturday. He says the message he intends to send is simple. "We have to figure out, are we going to be America or are we going to be something else?" Kluwe asks.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CA lawmaker demands public records following firing of Chris Kluwe
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - California Rep. Dave Min is calling on Huntington Beach educators to release public records about First Amendment concerns following the firing of former NFL player Chris Kluwe. The backstory The former UCLA and Minnesota Vikings punter was fired from his coaching job at Edison High School days after he was arrested for protesting a 'MAGA' plaque at the Huntington Beach City Council meeting. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former NFL player Chris Kluwe fired from coaching job after protesting MAGA Former NFL player Chris Kluwe arrested for protesting 'MAGA' plaque at Huntington Beach City Council meeting Kluwe said he was called into a meeting with Edison's athletic director and assistant principal of supervision and was fired after the school felt they received "too much attention" following his outburst during the city council meeting. Kluwe was arrested in a show of civil disobedience at the Feb. 18 Huntington Beach City Council meeting out of what he called frustration with how Democratic leaders have responded to Trump's second term. What they're saying More than a month after his arrest and firing, Rep. Min sent a new letter to Edison High School Principal Daniel Morris and Huntington Beach Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Carolee Ogata, requesting they provide public records related to the potential First Amendment violations in the firing of Kluwe. "I took an oath to 'support and defend' the Constitution and the rights it grants to all Americans. As the Trump administration relentlessly attacks the Constitution, it is our responsibility to stand up for the rule of law and protect free speech in Orange County," Min said. Min said a previous letter was left unanswered by Superintendent Ogata and Principal Morris. He said if they do not provide a written response by April 5, he'll be forced to elevate the situation and seek enforcement.
Fox News
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-NFL punter applauds Senate Dems after bill to prohibit males from women's sports fails to break filibuster
Chris Kluwe, a former NFL punter who was recently thrust into the national spotlight after he was arrested at a California city council meeting, voiced his support for lawmakers who blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act from moving forward in the Senate. Republican lawmakers failed to get the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Not a single Senate Democrat voted in favor of the bill. Two Republicans and two Democrats were absent from the vote. Kluwe, who played for the Minnesota Vikings his entire career, reacted in a post on BlueSky. "I support and am happy the party came together to stop this," Kluwe wrote. "However, this is what they should be doing on EVERYTHING. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it - we are in an existential crisis as a country. We're either going to emerge as Americans, or as something else." The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would require Title IX to treat gender as "recognized based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth" and would disallow any adjustment for it to apply to gender identity. The bill was introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and has more than 40 co-sponsors in the Senate. It would also codify one of Trump's many recent executive orders, giving the policy better longevity. President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to prohibit biological males from competing in women's and girls sports. The order would withhold federal funding from states that continue to allow transgender inclusion in women's and girls sports. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chris Kluwe says he was fired from coaching freshman football after being arrested for anti-MAGA protest
Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe said he was fired from coaching high school freshman football after protesting a "MAGA" sign in Huntington Beach, California. Kluwe, who has spent years coaching at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, wrote about losing his job in a post on Bluesky on Thursday. "Just got fired from being a freshman football coach, if you want to know what MAGA does to communities," Kluwe wrote. "They don't care about what helps people, because the school is certainly not going to find an ex-NFL player willing to coach there at that level, they only care about trying to hurt people." The high school's athletic director told USA Today that the move was a personnel matter and the school district declined comment. Earlier this month, Kluwe was arrested after speaking at a city council meeting, protesting the council's decision to put in a plaque at the local library. The plaque included an acrostic that spelled out "MAGA," an acronym used by President Donald Trump and his supporters, standing for "Make America Great Again." Kluwe told CNN on Friday that the school had fired him because the incident was "getting too much attention." "I'm sad that I won't be able to work with the kids anymore, because they always were excited once they figured out I had played in the NFL," Kluwe told CNN. At the protest on Feb. 18, Kluwe criticized the decision to endorse the "MAGA" movement with the plaque. ''MAGA' is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy and most importantly, 'MAGA' is explicitly a Nazi movement,' he said as part of his address to the council. 'You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that's what it is." He then took a seat at the front of the room and refused to leave, participating in what he called "the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience." Kluwe was arrested and charged with disrupting the assembly, and was detained for around four hours before being released. He reportedly has a court date set for April. Kluwe, who retired in 2013, spent most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, playing for the team from 2005-2012. Kluwe has been outspoken about his political beliefs for years, and alleged that the Vikings cut him from the team because of his support for same-sex marriage. In 2014, Minnesota and Kluwe settled for an undisclosed amount over allegations of homophobic remarks; the money from the settlement was donated directly to organizations serving LGBTQ+ causes.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chris Kluwe fired from coaching freshman football after being arrested for anti-MAGA protest
Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe said that he has been fired from coaching freshman football after protesting a MAGA sign in Huntington Beach, CA. Kluwe, who has spent years coaching at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, wrote about losing his job in a post on Bluesky on Thursday. "Just got fired from being a freshman football coach, if you want to know was MAGA does to communities," Kluwe wrote. "They don't care about what helps people, because the school is certainly not going to find an ex-NFL player willing to coach there at that level, they only care about trying to hurt people." Earlier this month, Kluwe was arrested after speaking at a city council meeting, protesting the council's decision to put in a plaque at the local library. The plaque included an acrostic that spelled out "MAGA," an acronym used by supporters of President Donald Trump, standing for "Make America Great Again." Kluwe told CNN on Friday that the school had fired him because the incident was "getting too much attention." "I'm sad that I won't be able to work with the kids anymore, because they always were excited once they figured out I had played in the NFL," Kluwe told CNN. At the protest on Feb. 18, Kluwe criticized the decision to endorse the "MAGA" movement with the plaque. ''MAGA' is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy and most importantly, 'MAGA' is explicitly a Nazi movement,' he said as part of his address to the council. 'You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that's what it is." He then took a seat at the front of the room and refused to leave, participating in what he called "the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience." Kluwe was arrested and charged with disrupting the assembly, and was detained for around four hours before being released. He reportedly has a court date set for April. Kluwe, who retired in 2013, spent most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, playing for the team from 2005-2012. Kluwe has been outspoken about his political beliefs for years, and alleged that the Vikings cut him from the team because of his support for same-sex marriage. In 2014, Minnesota and Kluwe settled for an undisclosed amount over allegations of homophobic remarks; the money from the settlement was donated directly to organizations serving LGBTQ+ causes.
