"On Sunday, November 9, roughly 20 people met outside Portland's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility for an aerobics workout class. Decked out in neon leotards, the participants did grapevines to classic, upbeat '80s new wave tunes in front of the boarded-up ICE building, where right-wing paramilitary types were conspiring to arrest and deport people. Sunday's "Sweating out the Fascists" aerobics class was another in a series of increasingly absurdist-seeming protests at Portland's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility, nestled deep in the South Waterfront."
""We just wanted to make sure we could have our voices heard, and this was a fun way to do it." Jennifer, one of the teachers of Sunday's class, told the Mercury. "It's also a way to draw a contrast when people across the country are saying we are a war torn city that's on fire. We're not. We're a fun-loving city... we're here to have fun and make these guys over here look a little silly. It makes them look like they're doing cosplay.""
About twenty people held an aerobics workout called "Sweating out the Fascists" outside Portland's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility on November 9. Participants wore neon leotards and danced to '80s new wave, using absurdist performance to mock federal officers. Inflatable frogs, other inflatable characters, a man on horseback, Latin dance sessions, and crochet lessons have become recurring protest tactics at the site. Federal officers appeared on the roof with large pepper ball guns, drove a bus with shaded windows, wore balaclavas, and fired pepper balls at protesters nearer the facility entrance.
Read at Portland Mercury
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