As US President Donald Trump deploys the National Guard to Portland and Chicago in search of unrest, local residents have countered with humor, none more striking than a protester in Portland, Oregon, who showed up in an inflatable frog costume.Dubbed the “Portland Frog,” the demonstrator has since gone viral, with videos and photos flooding social media.
What is the Portland Frog ?
Portland residents have taken to wearing inflatable costumes to mock what one frog-costumed protester described as “insane government overreach.” “It is a strategy to cut the narratives of the Trump administration, which says we are extremely violent. No, we are protesting, but with humor,” said Seth Todd, who wears the frog costume, as reported by Le Monde. On October 2, Todd joined protesters outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center to oppose the expulsion of undocumented migrants from Portland. During the demonstration, police fired tear gas into the vent of his frog costume as he attempted to assist fellow activists being targeted by law enforcement.
There is a Portland Chicken
Protesters are using the tools at their disposal, smartphone cameras, social media, and satire, to turn “war” rhetoric into a punchline.The dress-up “dismantles their narrative a little bit,” said Jack Dickinson, who dressed up as a Chicken, as cited by Willamette Week. “It becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit,” he added. Local Oregon officials remain united in asserting that the situation does not warrant deployment of the National Guard. On October 4 and 5, federal Judge Karin Immergut issued two rulings blocking the president’s order to send in troops, at least until October 18.“This is an American city. We do not need any intervention. This is not a military target. The president will not find lawlessness or violence here,” the city’s mayor, Keith Wilson, said in a statement.
