Portland protests have gotten a lot of national ink in recent years. In 2020, journalists from around the country flocked to the Justice Center to cover demonstrations following the Minneapolis murder of George Floyd, documenting the Wall of Moms, the mutual aid kitchen Riot Ribs, the tear gas. In response, President Trump sent federal officers to pull demonstrators off the streets and into unmarked vans.

Five years later, when activists congregated at the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement office, Trump again sent reinforcements, calling the city “war-ravaged.” Journalists came back with images of protesters in inflatable animal suits doing the Cha-Cha Slide. Still, feds deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades, notably at a January 2026 daytime march attended by children and seniors. 

Our tradition of civil disobedience isn’t new. We’ve puked red, white, and blue and spent 40 hours hanging from a bridge. Here, a look at the past 35 years. 

1991 Year President George H. W. Bush allegedly dubbed Portland “Little Beirut”—the previous year, his vice president had been met by protesters vomiting red, white, and blue thanks to dyed potatoes and ipecac. 

11 Number of days in 2000 environmental activist Tre Arrow occupied a third-story ledge of the building housing the US Forest Service’s Northwest regional offices.

55 Number of days in 2012 Cameron Whitten lived on water and supplements and slept outside Portland City Hall during Occupy Portland protests.

13 Number of rappellers who hung from the St. Johns Bridge during the 2015 nationwide #ShellNo protest, dangling for 40 hours in an attempt to block an icebreaker bound for an arctic oil drilling site.

8/24/15 Day musician Janelle Monae joined a Don’t Shoot Portland protest, leading marchers in a song naming several people killed by police, including Michael Brown and Portlander Kendra James.

118 Protest-related complaints about law enforcement filed in 2020 to Portland’s
Independent Police Review.

7/22/20 Night federal officers used tear gas on Portland mayor Ted Wheeler
during ongoing protests of racial injustice. 

$10 Minimum Don’t Shoot PDX donation required to receive a bottle of Tear Gas
Ted’s hot sauce, created by local cook August Winningham.

12/24/25 Day Willamette Week named the Portland Frog—a.k.a. Seth Todd, the activist who wore an inflatable amphibian suit outside South Waterfront’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility until an officer sprayed chemicals into its air vent—Portlander of the Year. Todd’s response to the title: “It’s nice, I guess.”

5,000 Number of Migra Watchers trained across Oregon by Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition between July 2025 and January 2026.