Portland’s defense against the federal government’s “war” on the city: Colorful, oversized animals dancing to pop music. Among Portland Protests, It’s Frogs and Sharks and Bears, Oh My! - The New York Times Among Portland Protests, It’s Frogs and Sharks and Bears, Oh My! Images of anarchists clad in black gave the city a bad name in 2020. Now, demonstrators in Portland are poking fun at President Trump’s apocalyptic talk with colorful animal suits. Oct. 11, 2025 Animal costumes are the new black. Exceedingly aware that the black garb worn by demonstrators in 2020 informed President Trump’s apocalyptic view of Portland, Ore., protesters this year have gone to the frogs — and unicorns, raccoons, sharks, bears, dinosaurs and the hot animal of this particular pop culture moment, a capybara. “It was just to contrast the narrative that we are violent extremists,” said Seth Todd, 24, whose appearance at Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility early in the summer as a bulbous green frog started the trend. “The best way to show that for me is being in a frog costume.” .... “The juxtaposition of this moment is what’s resonating,” said Whitney Phillips, an associate professor at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication whose academic research has focused on political narratives and symbols. “This moment is dangerous. It’s violent. It’s also absurd.” Mr. Trump and members of his administration have described the demonstrators in Portland as cruel, violent extremists bent on overthrowing the government. Since early June, a small but persistent subset of demonstrators has attempted to disrupt the work inside the ICE building by blocking cars from entering and exiting. The animal army — a technical term for a collection of frogs in this case — might have started as one man’s whim, but it has grown into a more intentional campaign, with protest organizers accepting and encouraging donations of costumes. It hasn’t precluded shoving matches between people on the left and right, nor federal officials from arresting demonstrators or firing pepper balls into the crowd to clear the building’s driveway. “It just makes it seem sillier when they come after us,” said Jack Dickinson, 26, who shows up most days to protest wearing a chicken onesie with an American flag as a cape. “There’s a whimsy to Portland, I think, that’s meeting this moment. You see it with me, you see it with the frog.” Mr. Todd, the frog, said he had been detained by federal officers and cited for failing to follow instructions three times since early summer, and video of federal officers pepper-spraying him through the air vent in his costume drew widespread attention this week. “It tasted like peppermint,” he said. The scenes of colorful, oversize animals dancing to pop music under the stern gaze of federal agents in riot gear has altered the national conversation about the protests, prompting internet memes and segments on late-night shows, even as the Trump administration and right-wing influencers doubled down on their descriptions of Portland as a city in flames during a White House “round table on antifa” Wednesday.
I'm incredibly disappointed that there was no Professor Bunson Honeydew and Beaker out on the streets
