‘Bare’-ing Their Grievances, Protesters at Portland Show Up to ICE Facility Fully Nude

Portland’s cheeky nature was on full frontal display as demonstrators descended naked upon the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Sunday to protest the deployment of federal troops in the city.Hundreds of cyclists hastily organized an “emergency” edition of the city’s annual World Naked Bike Ride — months ahead of its usual summertime date — to object to President Trump’s threat to send National Guard troops to the city to reduce crime and enforce the administration’s immigration policies. The riders pedaled their way through the streets in various states of undress despite driving rain and chilly autumn temperatures. The group eventually converged in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has become the focal point of the ongoing protests. “Joy is a form of protest. Being together with mutual respect and kindness is a form of protest,” World Naked Bike Ride organizers said on Instagram. “It’s your choice how much or little you wear.”The naked bike ride is usually held in warmer weather, but organizers said Mr. Trump’s attempts to mobilize National Guard troops demanded an immediate, stripped-down response.“We definitely do not want troops coming into our city,” cyclist Janene King told the Associated Press, adding that the nude ride was a “quintessentially Portland way to protest.”The recent days of demonstrations at the Portland ICE facility have skewed more toward the absurd, with protesters donning inflatable costumes of frogs, unicorns, and bananas. Officers have responded by firing tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd.The form of protest was organized by a group dubbed “Operation Inflation,” whose main organizer, Brooks Brown, said the goal is to use humor to refute claims that Portland has descended into chaos.“It deflates. It switches the situation, and it changes the conversation to be what it should be, which is: What are people here protesting about? They’re protesting what ICE is doing, how ICE is doing it, and how they’re handling it — what’s now happening to actual citizens,” he said to NewsNation.Protests over the weekend also turned weird at Chicago, where city leaders also reject Mr. Trump’s call to send in the National Guard.On Sunday, the inflatable costumes surfaced among the crowd protesting in front of an ICE detention facility at Broadview, a suburb west of the city. Among the colorful characters were Cookie Monster, Winnie the Pooh, and a bumble bee holding a sign that said, “bee benevolent, bee beautiful, bee better.”

‘Bare’-ing Their Grievances, Protesters at Portland Show Up to ICE Facility Fully Nude

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