‘Power hates being mocked’: Minnesota protestors embrace the absurd
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During the surge in federal immigration officers in Minnesota, President Donald Trump and his supporters characterized protests as violent. He posted on Truth Social in January that there were “violent organized protests going on in the streets” and, in a separate post, that public officials who weren’t cooperating with his administration were stoking the flames of “division, chaos and violence.”
While some protests in Minnesota have led to arrests and injuries, far more protests end peacefully. Some demonstrators in Minnesota have embraced a form of nonviolent protest called “tactical frivolity.”
It’s a way of using humor as a form of peaceful protest, and it’s been used across the country to protest immigration enforcement actions, from people dressing as inflatable frogs in Portland to “Pickle Rick” in Minneapolis.
Protesters have gathered daily at the Whipple federal building, a holding site for detainees and a hub for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
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Last weekend, a new element of “tactical frivolity” could be seen stuck to fences and faces: sex toys.
“Not everyone wants to get tear-gassed or arrested or beaten,” said organizer Rook T. Winchester. “But lots of people are willing to laugh, show up, bring something silly and stand shoulder to shoulder.”
Winchester is the organizer of what is being coined as the “dildo distribution delegation."
He said the added element to protesting is in the same spirit as wearing inflatable suits to rallies or rubber chickens — to weaponize the absurdity of the moment.
“Power hates being mocked more than it hates being challenged,” he said.
Winchester passed out 300 sex toys that were donated from the local company Like a Kitten.
“When people come out and say, ‘Well that was really vile or vulgar or distasteful,’ it sets up the question: isn’t it more distasteful and violent and vulgar to shoot people in the back of the head when they’re at a protest or to kill the citizens of Minneapolis?” Winchester said.
Winchester said once protesters started throwing the sex toys across the fence, he left. He said his goal is not to hurt anyone, but to have agents and others question their actions.
Social media users have also used humor with ICE agents. A rideshare driver joked with Border Patrol agents, including Commander Greg Bovino, in a now-viral social media post from January.
And, in a recent Reddit post, a man offers officers a lit joint. Recreational cannabis use is legal in Minnesota.
Sex toys were also used at a recent protest outside the Graduate Hotel on the University of Minnesota campus, where ICE agents are believed to be staying.
Winchester purchased dozens of them at a discounted rate from Smitten Kitten, the sex toy shop in the LynLake neighborhood that has become a center of mutual aid during the surge. He said last weekend’s protest was just the beginning. He’s received word that other organizations in different states are connecting with their local sex shops to support their cause too.
