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Boston Protest Legend Rob Potylo Detained By ICE In Oregon

The performer also known as Robby Roadsteamer was reportedly released about an hour later


Massachusetts-based protest performer Rob Potylo was detained by ICE officers on video earlier today in Portland, Oregon.

The recording shows the longtime music, culture, and comedy staple dressed in his usual tailed giraffe costume outside of the gated facility.

A post to his Instagram account noted the detainment came “after singing Rod Stewart with the Portland Frog,” and asked supporters to help with his defense fund. BINJ learned from someone on the scene that Potylo was released about an hour later and headed for the airport to return home.

Potylo has brought his talents to the front lines of demonstrations for more than a decade, palling around with perennial presidential candidate Vermin Supreme and others who bring laughter to tense and even violent situations. In 2012, a video of Potylo serenading a female police officer at occupy Wall Street went viral.

In the years since, he has remained active at protests, and also at one point revived the Robby Roadsteamer character he became known for years earlier, a hyperbolic masshole high on coke and Dropkick Murphys. Since Donald Trump’s most recent campaign and election however, similar to the Dropkicks, Potylo has ramped up his protesting along with his profile.

With several hundred thousand followers across multiple platforms, last year he crashed a number of right wing events big and small, from Turning Point USA gatherings to neanderthal congregations on bridge crossings in Mass. He also famously trolled Hulk Hogan, a childhood idol of Potylo, who was close personal friends with the wrestler Chyna and produced a docuseries on her life for Vice.

We are reaching out to ICE and will hopefully speak with Potylo after he returns to Greater Boston.

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