PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Over the past few weeks, more and more protesters at the ICE facility in Portland have been wearing costumes — the frog, a dinosaur, Barney.
Part of that is due to a new organization, Operation Inflation, which is purchasing more than 100 inflatable costumes with help from online donations and giving them away for free.
“Donald Trump is trying to say that this is a war zone. Donald Trump is trying to say that he wants to invoke the Insurrection Act. He wants to send troops down here to squash the terrorists,” Jordy Johnson with Operation Inflation told KOIN 6 News. “And we want to make it clear that this is not a war zone and that if he wants to invoke the Insurrection Act, he’s going to have to point at people in inflatable chickens and inflatable frogs and inflatable unicorns.”
Johnson said Operation Inflation “started a couple of days ago when we saw the frog guy kind of making the rounds in the media, and we decided, you know what? These things aren’t super expensive and a lot of people are going to want to help out with this project. So we just started a website, and I started spreading it around.”
OperatonInflation.com is crowdfunded, he said. It’s “a website that we started so that we could crowdfund, getting more costumes, more inflatables for people down here.”
So far they’ve purchased around 150 inflatables and they’re working to distribute them as quickly as they can.
“We might be expanding out to other cities as well and trying to really push this as hard as we can,” Johnson said.
And, he said, wearing the inflatables makes protesters of all ages and sizes feel good.
“I have this old woman yesterday put on this upside-down clown costume. She was jumping around and when she returned it, she said that it was the most fun that she’s ever had in a way that felt impactful and made her feel like she could be a part of it,” Johnson said.
But the idea behind the inflatables is disarmingly simple.
“We also want to make people know that they can be a part of this. This is not a dangerous place. This is just people standing up for the immigrants in our community and standing against Donald Trump,” Johnson said. As for the costumes, the wearers “can keep them. You can pass them on to the next person.”
‘Bob Ross’ and banana suits
Although federal agents did detain several people and used pepper balls on the crowd, it didn’t stop the festive protesters.
One man — who goes by ‘Bob Ross’ — was painting the scene around him.
A man who calls himself Bob Ross paints the scenes at the ICE facility protest, October 12, 2025 (KOIN)
A man who calls himself Bob Ross paints the scenes at the ICE facility protest, October 12, 2025 (KOIN)
“I am so proud of my city for coming out and protesting with frogs, with dancing, with music that I just wanted to come and join it and help out,” Ross said. “I think I did six paintings. I did the scene of them up on the roof. Well, well, well, the storm troopers stormed out and tried to push people back.”
Cyclists rally against ‘militarization’ of Portland with emergency naked bike ride
Earlier in the day was the Emergency Naked Bike Ride. Hundreds of bicycle rider braced the 50-degree weather wearing little to nothing to emphasize the point that Portland is not a war zone.
“I strongly believe in the message behind it,” said cyclist Daniel March. “The naked bike ride is always about showing the vulnerability of the cyclists. Really, this time it’s showing the vulnerability of our citizens.”
Cyclists rolled through NE Portland for an emergency naked bike ride on Oct. 12, 2025. (KOIN)
Cyclists get ready to roll through NE Portland for an emergency naked bike ride on Oct. 12, 2025. (KOIN)
And the day’s first protest event was a march from Elizabeth Caruthers Park to the ICE facility accompanied by a band dressed in banana suits.
Portlanders march against federal crackdown, call for abolition of ICE facility
One of that event’s organizers, Holly Brown, was cited last week for trespassing on federal property. That hasn’t stopped her from continuing to organize — and she’s thrilled at “so much happiness for Portland coming together.”
“It’s kind of like keeping up with the quirky, ‘Keep Portland Weird’ vibe,” Brown said. “Then after the naked bike riders left, DHS and IDE came out and brutalized protesters. They made targeted arrest. They actually, went into the middle of a band that was playing brass music, maced them and detained one of the trumpet players.”
But that won’t stop them.
“Having a band, having music keeps our spirits up, keeps us protesting,” Brown said.
