In rainy Portland on Sunday, more than 1,000 nude bicyclists joined the protests against ICE — with counter protesters in the dozens wearing Trump garb, flanked by American flags and an image of Charlie Kirk in front of a white cross.
With a steady rain and the temperatures only in the 50s, riders displayed their “quintessentially Portland way to protest” in an emergency edition of the annual World Naked Bike Ride, which is usually held in the summer.
Naked bike rides have thronged the streets of Oregon’s largest city every year since 2004, often holding up traffic as the crowd cycles through with speakers playing music. Some years have drawn roughly 10,000 riders, according to Portland World Naked Bike Ride.
“We’re cold, but not as cold as ICE,” said a sign on one rider’s back.
Fewer people were fully naked than usual — likely because of the cool, wet weather — but some still bared it all and rode wearing only bike helmets.
Others wore clear ponchos over their underwear, or fairy wings, kilts, and costumes.
“I think it’s critically important to include joy, and that’s why we’re here,” said Miles Thompson, a 43-year-old electrical engineer who conducts and plays trumpet with the Unpresidential Brass Band. “We’re winning this narrative battle. We’re here to show we’re not terrorists.”
Cyclists followed a route to the Burnside Bridge where they enacted a “die-in” laying down their bikes for a moment of silence. They proceeded on the route to reach the ICE facility at 4:15pm, where federal officers looked on from the rooftop, and ordered people to stay out of the street and protest only on sidewalks or risk being arrested.
At 5:15pm, they shot pepper balls into the crowd and detained two people.
NBC, AP, OregonLive