“For weeks, social media was flooded with these wonderful patriots. Videos of unicyclers, naked bike riders, the guy in the chicken suit, and a whole lot of frogs,” he said.
At an event held by Democrat lawmakers on Tuesday night in protest of the State of the Union, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon was heard praising the anti-ICE "patriots" of Portland that swarmed the city’s ICE facility after Trump’s announcement that he was deploying troops to protect it.
"The day we heard Trump was deploying troops to Portland, we rushed over to the ICE facility because, based on Trump’s Truth Social, we expected to just see a violent mob. But apparently, one guy in a chicken costume is what Trump considers a war zone."
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"For weeks, social media was flooded with these wonderful patriots. Videos of unicyclers, naked bike riders, the guy in the chicken suit, and a whole lot of frogs," he added, with people dressed in inflatable frog costumes flanking him on stage.
"No war zone to be found. Friends, when Donald Trump sent his agents to the streets of Portland, we took on authoritarianism 'cause we had the frogs and we won," he said.
Trump announced in September that he was surging National Guard troops to Portland to defend the city and ICE facilities there, writing, "At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary." The troops were pulled in December.
The move to surge troops came after months of near-nightly violence and unrest at the ICE facility in the city, with property being damaged, federal agents and journalists being attacked, and neighbors of the facility having their lives disrupted by the agitators.
Earlier in February, anti-ICE agitator David Pearl became the first to be convicted for actions undertaken outside the facility, including being part of a human blockade, refusing to disperse after numerous orders, and attempting to interfere with the arrest of an Antifa militant.
Dozens of others have been charged in connection with their actions at the facility, and two defendants have pleaded guilty to charges that include arson after reaching plea deals.
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