❓WHAT HAPPENED: A rally titled “Degenerates Against Fascism” took place outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon, featuring partially nude participants, people in bondage gear, and others engaging in provocative displays.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Protesters, including known Antifa associates Alissa Azar and Michael “Michelle” Backes, and others in the rally.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Sunday, outside Portland’s ICE facility.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We are strong, we are proud, we are degenerates against fascism.” – Protest leader.
🎯IMPACT: Authorities deployed pepper balls to disperse agitators, with protesters mocking their efforts.
A protest dubbed “Degenerates Against Fascism” unfolded Sunday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon, drawing a crowd in fetish gear, “furry” costumes, and partial nudity to decry President Donald J. Trump‘s policies and federal immigration enforcement.
Participants marched through streets, chanting anti-Trump and anti-ICE slogans amid a spectacle of “kink-inspired” theatrics. One topless woman torched an American flag, kicked its ashes toward the federal facility, and brandished a sign reading, “tear gas makes me horny.” A group in dog masks, evoking the so-called “puppy play” subculture, howled in unison at federal personnel.
Elsewhere, a wheelchair user in a furry mask blew bubbles for a crawling protester in a pup hood. The throng roared, “No Trump, no ICE, no fascist USA,” with a leader proclaiming, “We are strong, we are proud, we are degenerates against fascism.”
Journalist Andy Ngo, who has covered Antifa for years, identified known Antifa figures Alissa Azar and Michael “Michelle” Backes among the demonstrators. As agitators surged toward the gates, authorities fired pepper balls to disperse them.
The rally follows months of turmoil at the ICE center, besieged nearly nightly by domestic terrorist Antifa militants since June, hurling threats, ramming barricades, and clashing violently with officers, yielding over 20 arrests, 100 citations, and 27 federal indictments for arson and assaults on officers.
Local Democrats have amplified the opposition. In September, Mayor Keith Wilson issued a violation notice citing over two dozen supposed breaches of a 2011 permit, based on detention exceedances tracked by progressive advocates. City Councilor Angelita Morillo, who uses they/them pronouns, posted a guide urging the use of “burner phones,” Signal encryption, Faraday bags, and PIN locks to frustrate law enforcement.
Early October saw brawls between Antifa and pro-ICE counter-demonstrators, including an unpunished attack on journalist Nick Sortor. Sortor was arrested for disorderly conduct but was released the next day amid allegations of bias.
President Donald J. Trump’s bid to deploy the National Guard to Portland to protect federal buildings and personnel has been blocked twice by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who ruled it exceeded federal authority and violated states’ rights.
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