It was a scene straight out of a dystopian circus — or, as one protester put it, “so Portland.”
Hundreds of naked demonstrators took to the streets — and eventually the pavement — over the weekend in the city’s latest unfiltered spectacle of anti-Trump protest. This time, it was a nude “die-in” aimed at halting President Donald Trump’s newly announced deportation campaign and his decision to deploy federal troops to Portland to confront violent anti-ICE agitators.
The participants, many of whom regularly ride in Portland’s annual “World Naked Bike Ride” for climate awareness, decided to pivot from environmental activism to immigration policy — swapping slogans like “Save the Planet” for “No Troops in Oregon” and shedding not only their clothes but also any semblance of policy coherence. Parading through the city in the nude, they eventually collapsed in performative “death” poses on a bridge, in a dramatic attempt to symbolize the “death of democracy.”
It was political theater — without the costumes.
From the roof of a nearby ICE building, armed federal agents watched the display in silence, likely wondering how we reached the point where law enforcement is now expected to monitor mobs of unclothed protestors pretending to be corpses.
World Naked Bike Ride Portland holds a “die in” demonstration on the Burnside Bridge pic.twitter.com/RVQoGKVvup
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) October 13, 2025
Portland protester “Ashley” explained, “We strongly believe we do not need federal troops in Portland or in Oregon at all.” Another rider, calling himself “Saturn,” added: “It is electric, so fun, it’s so Portland. Just keeping everything weird.”
Weird, indeed.
Meanwhile, the White House isn’t exactly rattled. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded bluntly on X:
“If you think this is crazy, congratulations, you’re a Republican!”
And she’s not wrong. Portland — already a national symbol of progressive unrest — has, in recent weeks, seen repeated attacks on federal agents. Protesters have torched property, hurled rocks, and even aimed high-powered lasers at government aircraft. One illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly targeting a CBP helicopter just last month.
Trump responded by ordering his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to protect federal personnel and infrastructure from what he called “Antifa and other domestic terrorists.” He authorized “full force, if necessary” to restore law and order in what he called “war-ravaged Portland.”
But the plan hit legal resistance. A federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment, and now the issue sits with a federal appeals court panel. At stake: whether the president can federalize the Guard in a state where local leadership has openly opposed him at every turn — even as lawlessness festers.
So while courts deliberate constitutional authority and the National Guard stands by, Portland’s protests spiral further into absurdity.
