About

Portland Frog is the nickname given to a protestor wearing an inflatable frog costume during the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon, soon after U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to deploy the National Guard to the city in October 2025. Videos of a person "wriggling" in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers first began making the rounds in early October, before a video of an officer pepper-spraying the frog costume's air intake went viral on TikTok, Twitter / X and Instagram.

According to some internet users, the person in the costume was 24-year-old Seth Todd, also known by his Instagram account @the_queertoad. However, multiple protestors have been spotted wearing the frog costume since the virality of the initial video. The Portland Frog notably inspired memes, jokes and inspirational posters among internet users critical of President Trump's policies, and also led to discourse among his supporters about "humorous" tactics used by so-called "antifa terrorists." The frog costume used by the Portland Frog protestor is similar to the Chinese Frog Mascot that went viral in 2023.

Origin

The earliest viral video of the Portland Frog appeared on October 3rd, 2025, when an ICE member sprayed pepper spray into the air vent of the inflatable frog suit that sucks up air to fill the costume. A video of the incident was posted to X / Twitter by user @bennetthaselton^[1] on October 3rd, 2025, receiving over 23.5 million views, 29,000 likes and 1,000 replies in 17 days.

The video was also reposted by the TikTok^[2] page @theantifascistfrog on October 3rd, where it gathered over 1.8 million views and 190,000 likes in two weeks.

Also on October 3rd, TikToker^[3] @theantifascistfrog posted a video showing riot police slowly retreating as the Portland Frog approaches them. The video gathered over 1.6 million views and 200,000 likes in two weeks.

Later on October 3rd, 2025, X^[4] user @MrAndyNgo tweeted information supposedly identifying the "Portland Frog," saying that he was "Seth Todd," a 24-year-old trans person that Ngo described as an "Antifa rioter." The post gathered over 16,000 likes in two weeks.

Spread

On October 7th, 2025, Los Angeles-based activist and #1 NYT bestselling author and illustrator, Nikkolas Smith, posted an illustration of the Portland Frog to Instagram,^[8] gathering over 35,000 likes in 10 days.

The image was reposted to the subreddit^[9] /r/Portland that same day, where it gathered over 8,000 upvotes in a similar timeframe.

On October 9th, 2025, X^[5] user @NocontextMR posted an interview with a Portland Frog in which he explains his reasoning for continuously participating in anti-ICE protests, gathering over 2,000 likes in a week.

Also on October 9th, X^[6] user @PamHemphill79 posted an image posing with several people dressed in the Portland Frog costume, writing, "I’m back here at the ICE Facility with the Portland Frog Brigade!" The post gathered over 80,000 likes in 10 days.

On October 10th, 2025, TikToker^[10] @heather34897 posted a video showing several people dressed up in an assortment of blow-up animal costumes at a Portland protest, gathering over 1.6 million views and 300,000 likes in a week.

On October 17th, Redditor /u/inevitableoracle posted an image showing "DON'T OBEY" photos featuring the Portland Frog on the subreddit^[7] /r/pics, gathering over 70,000 upvotes in a day.

Related Memes

Chinese Frog Mascot

Chinese Frog Mascot refers to a costume trend that originated in China in May 2023 and grew popular on TikTok in August 2023. The costume was reportedly created by a woman named Ms. Tong as a means of showing her frustration with the Chinese job market. The costume grew to be popular among street vendors and street performers, with videos of the frog saluting people and dancing wildly being shared on TikTok and Twitter in late 2023.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References