‘I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,’ says Portland ICE protest frog that got pepper sprayed by federal agents

The Portland protest frog didn’t let a stream of chemical spray aimed directly at his costume’s air vent stop him.

A TikTok video of the onslaught by a federal agent is now up to at least 1.4 million likes.

It happened last week – at 10:57 p.m. on Oct. 2 – as people were peacefully protesting on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, said the man in the frog suit, Seth Todd, 24, of Portland.

Federal officers stormed from the building and started pushing people back onto the street and detaining others, said Todd, who spoke to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday night back at the scene in South Portland.

“I saw a comrade that got shoved really hard to the ground and helped him get up, and in the process, they (federal agents) sprayed my air vent … where my air intake goes,” he said. “I was stuck in it for like an hour.”

But he said the spray tasted minty and “wasn’t that bad.”

“I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,” said Todd, still in costume but with the top off to reveal his face.

And despite the whimsy of his bulbous green outfit, Todd said he’s serious about the reason he’s a protest regular.

He said he’s part of the Mexican Latino community and feels compelled to publicly condemn the Trump administration’s callous treatment of immigrants.

“Whether they are here legally or not, they should be treated as a human being because that’s what they are. That’s what we are,” he said. “We are humans, and we are not supposed to be treating other people unfairly just because we have the power to do so.”

He said the federal government should be more conscientious with the authority it wields.

“Since you have that power,” Todd said, “you should be even more careful with how you treat people because you have that much power and it comes with a lot of responsibility.”

How is Todd feeling about the movement he has inspired as other people show up at the ICE building in animal suits from more frogs to a bear, a raccoon, a unicorn and more?

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I think it shows that we are not violent. We are just here, having a good time, despite the fact that we get brutalized almost every day by these … agents.”