Federal officers watch protesters dressed in inflatable animal suits outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland on Oct. 13, 2025.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! But this isn't the Land of Oz, it's a Portland protest.

Full of colorful animal costumes, some protests in Portland, Oregon, against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have begun to resemble whimsical zoos. A new initiative dubbed Operation Inflation may be the reason why.

"We buy a bunch of costumes and we go down and deliver them," Brooks Brown, an activist who helped create Operation Inflation, told USA TODAY. "And it kind of took off the first day."

Videos show people preparing for the protests by stepping into inflatable costumes and dancing around. But they may not have shown up to the protests with the intention of looking like a chicken, axolotl or even Reptar from the famous 90s cartoon, "Rugrats."

Inspired by the Portland Frog, a protester who began dressing in an inflatable frog costume to attend the protests, Operation Inflation gives away costumes to people protesting ICE to "help deflate (pun intended) the tensions surrounding protests," according to its website.

'The rhetoric around all of it shifted'

When a video of the Portland Frog getting pepper-sprayed went viral, Brown saw how the narrative on the protests changed.

"We were watching the news on that and how the rhetoric around all of it shifted," Brown said. "It wasn't some 'violent Antifa protester' who gets maced, but instead frog."

After that, Operation Inflation provided costumes to protesters free of charge, and more people started to dress up. Brown says the change affected how the demonstrations have been received.

Dinosaurs, pandas, peacocks and more

The inflatable costumes range from t-rexes and unicorns to pandas and peacocks. Some people are even dressed in inflatable clown costumes or Philadelphia's hockey team's mascot, Gritty, while others show up with bubble machines.

Operation Inflation and the 'No Kings' Protests

Demonstrators across the country are planning to gather on Saturday, Oct. 18, to join the "No Kings" rallies and marches, which, according to event organizers, are a celebration of the First Amendment, free speech and the right to assemble.

Events are scheduled to happen in various cities and states, and Operation Inflation stated it plans to join the demonstrations occurring in Portland.

"We're looking forward to an exciting weekend full of inflatable fun!" the organization wrote in a post on Instagram. "Can't wait to see everyone inflated for No Kings!"

Operation Inflation has not released its plans for the protest but stated on TikTok that its "secret plan is planned" and asked its followers to look for it during the event.

Contributing: Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY

Julia is a Trending reporter for USA TODAY and covers scientific studies and trending news. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Portland protests are drawing frogs, sharks and unicorns

Reporting by Julia Gomez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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