Portland’s Inflatable Costume Protests Against ICE Begin to Spread Nationwide

Who had "dance rave in front of an ICE building" on their 2025 bingo card? After one protester in Portland, Oregon, showed up to a protest in an inflatable frog costume, a new national trend was born. This trend is quickly spreading to other parts of America. This is peak Portland, and I've got my popcorn to watch all the protest-y shenanigans.

Portland's Dancing Protesters vs ICE

Protests have been happening at the ICE building in Portland in the last few weeks, and because Portland is 'weird', the protests quickly turned into dance parties.

The protest dance party video that first captured my eye was the one of people doing the Cha Cha Slide in front of ICE guards at Portland's Immigration and Customs Enforcement building (4310 S Macadam Ave). I wasn't expecting to see something like this happening. It made me spit out my drink!

@samanthamichelle888 Meanwhile at the ICE detention center in Portland… #warravagedcity #pdx #ice #chachaslide ♬ original sound - samanthamichelle888

The dance parties have progressed to full on marching band performances in front of the ICE building.

@hellionleather Just a bunch of Law abiding citizens :) #portlandmusicfestival ♬ original sound - HellionLeather

How a Dancing Frog Kicked Off Portland’s Wildest Protest Yet

Soon after I saw the Cha Cha Slide protest, I began hearing about a guy in a frog costume who had gone viral at an ICE protest in Portland. His name is Seth Todd, and somebody captured a video of him doing silly dance moves in front of ICE guards. After the video hit peak views and went viral on TikTok and YouTube, other protesters began showing up in inflatable costumes, too. Some say that it doesn't get more "Portland" than this. Todd's costume has some people calling him "Freedom Frog" and "Portland Frog."

@dannyqdc Portland Frog #portlandprotest #portlandfrog #icegestapo ♬ We Are Family (Single Version) - Sister Sledge

More people in Portland are now showing up to the ICE protest wearing inflatable costumes. This TikTok video shows a dancing giraffe, elephant, panda bear, unicorn, chicken, and blue dinosaur enjoying a protest dance party. If you look closely, you'll see the Portland Frog across the street being interviewed by passersby.

@heather34897 #ice #warzone #musicfestival #portland #frogforpresident ♬ オリジナル楽曲 - queen_greatest_pop

Commenters on Reddit seem to be split in their approval of the use of satire in the inflatables' protest. "Bring in all the food trucks! Nom nom while dancing. Best way to protest ever." - OogieBooge-Dragon on Reddit "Absolute chaos as tens of people take to the streets." - skinnyguy699 on Reddit

Comment byu/OregonSasquatch14 from discussion inoregon

Comment byu/OregonSasquatch14 from discussion inoregon

Read More: 10 of The Weirdest Bars You’ll Find in Portland, Oregon

The Inflatable Protests Have Spread to Other Parts of America

There have been reports of inflatable protests spreading to Chicago, Illinois, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Lawrence, Kansas.

Freedom Frog Interview on KATU:

Inflatable costume dance parties at the Portland ICE building seem to grow bigger each day, despite the fact that ICE snipers are on guard and warn all protesters to move away from blocking the building's driveway.

Protesters who continue to block the driveway after being warned have been sprayed with tear gas (like "Freedom Frog") and others have been seen on video being pelted by guards with pepper spray bullets.