{"id":167661,"date":"2025-10-11T14:49:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/costumed-protesters-in-portland-defy-description-of-the-city-as-a-war-zone-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T14:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:49:51","slug":"costumed-protesters-in-portland-defy-description-of-the-city-as-a-war-zone-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/costumed-protesters-in-portland-defy-description-of-the-city-as-a-war-zone-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Costumed protesters in Portland defy description of the city as a 'war zone' – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 A small group of federal agents in camouflage and face masks watched from atop the immigration processing center Thursday night as a unicorn, peacock, dinosaur and raccoon danced to Cher\u2019s \u201cIf I Could Turn Back Time.\u201d
Across the street, the self-proclaimed frog brigade \u2014 three adults in inflatable amphibian costumes \u2014 posed for photos and bounced around in unison. A small group of counterprotesters nearby shouted, \u201cWe love you, ICE!\u201d
Similar scenes outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building south of downtown Portland have been playing out for weeks as people protest President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation efforts and the deployment of more than 200 National Guard troops to Oregon\u2019s largest city to protect federal property.
The absurdity of adults dancing in inflatable costumes during anti-ICE demonstrations is meant to display community joy, protesters say, and helps to dispel the Trump administration\u2019s narrative that Portland is a crime-ridden \u201cwar zone,\u201d a characterization local and state leaders say is false.
Plus, the costumes provide protection from gas and other toxins deployed by federal agents, protesters say.
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to make it silly and say that we\u2019re evil, we\u2019re going to make it silly by showing how evil you are,\u201d said Brooks Brown, of Vancouver, Washington, who passed out 30 inflatable costumes Thursday night to anyone who wanted to get it on \u201cOperation Inflation.\u201d
Not without its civic challenges, the greater Portland area has some 7,000 homeless residents, and simple assaults have increased 8% from the time last year, but homicides have dropped 50% and aggravated assaults 4% in the same period, according to police and city data, and overall crime has held steady.
Protester Jack Dickinson, known locally as the Chicken Man, first donned his chicken costume in June during Trump\u2019s military parade in Washington. He said he wanted to counter the show of force with farce.
As immigration raids accelerated across the country and the administration appeared to fixate on Portland\u2019s protests, the chicken costume took on new meaning, he said.
\u201cThis is an unacceptable betrayal of the American democracy,\u201d Dickinson said, referring to federalized forces deployed in Democratic-led cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. \u201cICE is kind of the perfect example of the cruelty with which they are implementing their agenda, and it\u2019s just not something we can sit by and let happen.\u201d
The costume strategy appears to be working. Demonstrators have attracted attention from international media outlets in France, Australia and England.
California Gov. Gavin Newson, a Democrat and a frequent target of Trump\u2019s verbal and online jabs, seized on the movement to mock the administration on social media.
\u201cPortland is war ravaged! SEND IN THE CALIFORNIA (???) NATIONAL GUARD!\u201d he posted this week <\/a>on X with a video of a unicorn, raccoon and dinosaur dancing outside the immigration building.
Despite the costumed antics, the Trump administration stuck to its depiction of the protesters on Thursday during a federal appeals court hearing challenging a judge\u2019s order barring the Guard from being sent to Portland. The panel has not made a decision yet.
Department of Justice attorney <\/strong>Eric McArthur <\/strong>called protesters \u201cviolent people\u201d who hurled rocks at federal agents, lit fires on the street and blocked cars.
\u201cThe president is entitled to say enough is enough and bring in the National Guard to reinforce the regular forces,\u201d he added.
Federal officials pointed to the three-week closing of the ICE building from mid-June to early July because of damage to windows, security cameras and other parts of the building, allegedly caused by protesters.
Protesters have blamed the ongoing federal presence for civil unrest, saying the toxins being used against them are causing health concerns in the residential neighborhood.
Speaking before a panel of federal judges Thursday, Senior Assistant Oregon Attorney General Stacy Chaffin said the administration\u2019s portrayal of Portland was \u201cuntethered from reality.\u201d
As lingering toxins from tear gas lobbed by federal officers caused people to clear their throats and wipe their stinging eyes Thursday night outside the ICE building, protesters said they were skeptical the Trump administration would follow a court order that was not in its favor.
Brown and other demonstrators pulled a cart filled with 30 inflatable costumes and began passing them out to protesters, turning the gathering into a kind of night circus as a raccoon, polar bear and axolotl bounded toward the ICE building.
Brown said he created an Operation Inflation website in one night this week after seeing federal police confront protester Seth Todd, otherwise known as \u201cToad\u201d because of the costume he wears. Brown said he immediately began selling inflatable costumes from the site, adding that the operation is not funded or backed by any outside organization.
Brown said he grew up learning about the deadly Kent State shooting in 1970, when four unarmed students were killed and another nine wounded by members of the Ohio National Guard. Operation Inflation is his attempt to de-escalate tensions between protesters and federal officers.
\u201cPeople should be able to protest. They should have their voices heard,\u201d he said between coughs from the tainted air.
Dressed as Tigger from \u201cWinnie the Pooh,\u201d Portland resident Joy Wilson marveled at the masked agents staring down at her. She said she usually reads a book during demonstrations to highlight the peace and calm of Portland\u2019s resistance movement, and Thursday night marked her first time attending a protest in costume.
But after witnessing federal agents pepper spray Todd in the respiratory hole of his inflatable suit on <\/strong>Oct. 4 in an act that was caught on video and posted to social media, Wilson said she decided to show <\/strong>solidarity because the frog has become a symbol of nonviolent protest.
\u201cPeople sometimes wonder, \u2018What can I do\u2019\u201d to protest, Wilson said. \u201cThis makes it so accessible.\u201d
Wilson\u2019s husband, Kevin, who was wearing regular clothes, stood nearby, carefully picking out more costumes to order online for demonstrators. Their teenage daughter and her friends passed out pizza slices to the demonstrators.
\u201cShould I go with the unicorn?\u201d he mused before selecting a range of animals, including a lobster, a shark and a bear.
\u201cI already ordered a squirrel,\u201d Wilson confessed with a grin.
Alicia Victoria Lozano is a California-based reporter for NBC News focusing on climate change, wildfires and the changing politics of drug laws.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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Profile news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timePORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 A small group of federal agents in camouflage and face masks watched from atop the immigration processing center Thursday night as a unicorn, peacock, dinosaur and raccoon danced to Cher\u2019s \u201cIf I Could Turn Back Time.\u201d Across the street, the self-proclaimed frog brigade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}