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Why Portland ICE protesters are showing up dressed as giant inflatable animals
Portland Oregonian Published: Oct. 15, 2025
Some of the most viral images to come from the protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland have also been the silliest: protesters dressed as zebras, frogs, unicorns, chickens and clowns.
On Monday, a group of five frogs — perhaps, technically, an army — danced in front of the ICE facility. Some held signs or wore capes with the Portland Frog Brigade logo.
The frog contingent has grown steadily since protester Seth Todd was pepper-sprayed by officers on Oct. 2 while wearing an inflatable frog suit.
Jordy, a livestreamer who asked to be identified only by his first name due to concerns about harassment from counter-protesters, was inspired by online clips of the so-called “Portland Freedom Frog.”
What the ICE protests needed, he thought, wasn’t just more frogs — but a full inflatable menagerie of squirrels, sharks, raccoons and more.
“When you have people in inflatables bouncing around … it’s going to be very difficult to say this was a war zone, this was a riot,” Jordy said. “It de-escalates with ICE, it de-escalates with protesters, it de-escalates with counter-protesters — and, ironically enough, the pepper balls bounce right off.”
Jordy created a simple website, operationinflation.com, where visitors are invited to contribute $35 to “provide an inflatable costume for a True American.™”
The site launched just over a week ago. Jordy initially hoped to collect enough to buy a couple dozen suits to hand out outside the ICE building.
But as he put it — pardon the inflation pun — “This whole thing has blown up a lot.”
So far, he says, Operation Inflation has ordered around 100 costumes, delivered in batches each night to the protest site, with more on the way.
On Monday evening, a clothing rack lined with about 20 inflatable costumes appeared on the sidewalk near the ICE facility — each free for the taking.
In the absurdist, satirical tradition of the post-World War I Dadaist movement, Jordy believes this costumed protest tactic is key to countering President Trump’s narrative that Portland is “war-ravaged.”
“Every person in an inflatable costume,” Jordy said, “makes it harder for the Trump administration to invoke the Insurrection Act or try to spread this messaging of Portland being a dangerous place.”
The costumes are free for anyone who wants one — to borrow or keep.
“I’m not the architect of this movement,” Jordy said. “I’m just trying to hit the gas.”
A slight word of caution for donors: Operation Inflation is an ad hoc project, not a registered nonprofit. For those unsure about donating money, Molly, a volunteer handing out costumes Monday evening, said some people had dropped off costumes for the cause directly at the site.
Molly provided fan batteries as two people picked out a cow and a blue dinosaur from the costume rack.
“It just shows how ludicrous this is,” Molly said. “These are not violent protesters. These are American protesters.”
Federal agents have arrested about 30 people outside the Portland ICE facility since June, including about 15 people who have been accused of assaulting or attempting to assault federal officers. But the protests have remained peaceful, with protesters generally limiting their interactions with officers to verbal taunts.
Frogs, unicorns, and chickens have been the most popular choices so far. While frog suits remain in rotation, Jordy says the broader costume selection is intentional.
“I felt like it was more wholesome and creative to leave it open for people to identify with different costumes,” he said. “I wanted something that would allow people to be whatever they wanted to be.”
The group is saving up costumes to distribute at a No Kings protest march planned for Saturday, and plans to have a large stock on hand for Halloween.
“It changed the entire dynamic instantly,” Jordy said. “And now it’s grown so much that we’re trying to reach out to other cities and expand this into an ‘inflation response network.’”
Jordy sees the costumes as a mobilization strategy — both to encourage more people to attend protests and to counter negative depictions of the city.
“You don’t need to be part of a huge organization to have a disproportionate amount of political influence,” he said. “One extra person in an inflatable makes a huge difference.”
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