Protesters dressed as everything from hot dogs to unicorns were among the millions who joined the “No Kings” marches across the U.S. last weekend. Many were inspired by the Portland Frog Brigade, a group of people who have been donning inflatable frog costumes outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility to protest against recent raids and deportations.
While they may look ridiculous, participants say that’s intentional: It helps counter the rhetoric from President Donald Trump and other Republicans that people protesting ICE and the National Guard deployments in U.S. cities are violent extremists. The absurd getups can also defuse tension with armed forces dressed in riot gear. And when one federal agent did use pepper spray on an inflatable frog, directed into the costume’s air vent, it created a shocking, indelible image.
Demonstrators in duck costumes gather at Butler Field in Chicago for a No Kings protest in October. Jacek Boczarski Anadolu, via Getty Images
These outfits are just the latest iteration in a long history of using whimsy and humor in political protests, known as “tactical frivolity.” L.M. Bogad is a performance artist, author of the book “Tactical Performance: The Theory and Practice of Serious Play” and a professor of political performance at the University of California, Davis. He also co-founded the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, a troupe launched during the George W. Bush administration. The Marshall Project spoke with Bogad about why a horde of puffy animals is the new emblem of the anti-Trump resistance. This conversation was edited for length and clarity.
The Marshall Project: Can you explain what “tactical frivolity” means?
L.M. Bogad: I first came across the term in the ’90s, when folks were protesting against corporate globalization. There were these very militarized police responses that were really overkill, and folks just started showing up dressed as fairies and elves and all kinds of things with fabulous wings, just to underscore how ridiculous the overreactions from police forces were in different countries. So it was a tactic, both to be self-expressive, to be beautiful or funny or silly, in order to attract more people to participate in the demonstrations by making it honestly fun, but also to expose to the world and the media that, “This is not an appropriate event to bring tanks and massive amounts of weaponry to control.”
Source: The ICE Protest Frogs Have a Long History of ‘Tactical Frivolity’ Behind Them
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