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The activist who originated the Portland Frog was among six protesters arrested by Portland police at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland on Jan. 8. ICE saw heightened protests at its South Macadam Avenue facility in the aftermath of a Border Patrol officer shooting two people in Southeast Portland earlier in the day.
Seth Todd, 24, was arrested at about 9 pm. A Portland Police Bureau officer used a loudspeaker to repeatedly ask a group of people, including Todd, to move to the sidewalk in order to clear the street for traffic. Todd was charged with second-degree disorderly conduct for interfering with a peace officer. They were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Todd, who goes by the nickname “Toad,” says they got home by about 1 am this morning after the arrest. Today, they are “doing great.” They were wearing black bloc to the protest, not the inflatable frog suit that made them famous.
Their account of the arrest is about the same as that of the police.
“Cops came to move us back on the sidewalk,” Todd says. “I told them that they have no authority to dictate how we protest, and they arrested me.”
The concept of the Portland Frog has expanded nationally since Todd was pepper-sprayed by a federal agent last summer. In December, WW named the Frog its 2025 Portlander of the Year and examined the genesis of the phenomenon, starting with Todd’s protest activity.
As that story noted, Todd is not legally allowed near the Macadam building until May, stemming from a federal citation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a July 8 protest at ICE where Todd threw a water bottle at officers.
Asked for a comment about why they were at ICE last night, Todd responded: “It’s not up to the oppressors and their lap dog enforcers to dictate what is an acceptable form of resistance and protest.”
