Bulwark Takes - Robby Roadsteamer Sang Rod Stewart—Then ICE Opened Fire

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Tim Miller is joined by Robby Roadsteamer to discuss his recent arrest at the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, after a face off with officers turned from singing a rendition of 'Do You Think I'm Sexy' by Rod Stewart to a bombardment of pepper-spray projectiles and being pulled into the ICE facility for detainment.

Hey, everybody. I am delighted to be here with Robbie Roadsteamer. He is a free man. He's a free man. He's been targeted by ice. Boy, I met Robbie. We met at the post-prison press conference for Steve Bannett. Post-prison press conference. And I was giving Steve the business and out of nowhere. What was your bit? It was hilarious because you were grilling him hard right at the beginning and stuff. And I'm thinking in the back of my head, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm about to do Steve in right now. He was, so exhausted by the time he got done with you. And so it was like, I had a red suit on because

that's how I was able to infiltrate the press conference because I said I was with Tim Poole. And I'm like, Steve, Robbie Roode steamer. I just said, I have a question. I mean, when's the next insurrection? Are we going to storm Burger King after this? And then he was laughing so hard and pointing, he

couldn't say get him. And so he gave me more time. And I'm like, doesn't he look great? We were in Danbury together, lifting weights and stuff, man. You You don't remember me? What's the next insurrection? He looks great. You don't remember me?

We were lifting weights and stuff in the weight room. When's the next insurrection? It was good. It was a nice exchange. It was, I think that it was appropriate for the seriousness of the moment of a... I was there to just troll them out. I mean, that's, you know, aside from singing, like, the comedy songs, you know, it's like a large part is, like, hitting people like Marjorie Taylor Green with songs, Hulk Ogan.

You know, Trump is a real foul and thinks the immigrants are eating cats. You know, I've been doing improv comedy since my single digits to make my mom laugh when my dad was being crazy. And it eventually led to me moving to Boston, doing traditional stand-up comedy. But more hilariously, like doing like a band with the character and getting on CBS Radio Boston, 104.1 for 4. years the rock of boston the patriots rock radio network i got on the radio i toured warp tour cori taylor from slipnot covered me uh the song i put a baby in you finally i i started smoking and i started blazing and tripping by the age of 30 and um i wanted to just do something more political or meaningful with the art. So I started hitting political events. I shadowed a really incredible

gentleman named Vermin Supreme who runs for president with a boot on his head. Yeah, I know about Vermin. I just, I shadow and absorb everything. I didn't know what a protest was like. I went to the DNC with him in 2012 in Charlotte. I was getting ready for war. And then all of a sudden he gets out there, you know, CNN's out there, MSNBC, you know, Vice. And everybody's in his pocket. He's like, how's everybody doing, Vermin Supreme's here? Going up to the police, all the police are smiling, like, Officer Williams, Officer Perez, yeah, yeah, everybody's getting a free pony. And I was just like, oh, my God, I shadowed him for about 12 years and stuff. And it was like, you know, I do all the tours, but I did him as me. And it would just be like,

hi, everybody, my name's Robitillo. I'm here with Vermin. It's like, oh, going to work at Best Buy and snore Adderall. Hey, hot dogs and applesauce. And like, you know, I became his music, But all the while, I had this character in the tank from yesteryear. And then two years ago, it was almost like Star Wars. I wasn't in the mood to be Rob Patillo anymore. All right. So, road steamer emerges. Fast forward to yesterday.

And you're outside an ice facility in Portland, singing a version of Do You Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart? Hell yeah. If you hate brown people and you are a Nazi. If you hate brown people and you're a Nazi. Well, you're going to do it in melody. Like, you hate brown people and you are a Nazi. Get the fuck out of Portland.

Get the fuck out of Portland. Like, I'm going to put up the full version. I've just been going like, you know, 180 miles an hour and I edit my own stuff. But it's like, I do the whole thing to them. I'm on the ground like, if you hate brown people and you are a Nazi, like the whisper part rod does at the end. And so then you're doing it you're with. They're the guys in the costumes, the furries and stuff. people are dancing around the ice guys are up on the roof some of them were laughing at you some of them are pissed

and then one of them tries to pelt you with a with a pepper bullet let's just look at that really quick you know what's the name of the way you best your shit cloud the one that's true blue without steen yeah all right what happened there you have the sequence perfect i mean it's absolutely like i get the portland you know there's tents there's people being fed there's performance artists in the streets Like, it's a really fun scene to a certain degree. And, yeah, they will show the late night escapades when everything escalates or whatnot. But, I mean, I just found, like, so much family and so much love there. And so I go out there and you nailed it.

I'm doing the Rod Stewart and I'm dancing and stuff. And I do the full version. And I'm making fun of them left and right, the ice snipers and stuff. Like, oh, there they are with their super-soakers up there and stuff. Glorified mall cops. They're getting pissed. They're getting pissed. no question and you see the video today they're teeing off on me with the pepper balls like you can

see on my instagram and whatnot and stuff like you can see the dust it looks like rambo and it's like the doors touch me is kicking in it's like come on come on come on what's the name of that plane the one that trump flew with geoffrey upstein did it and it's so absurd so when they realized that wasn't working everybody's coughing around me you see it in the video i'm like robin deval and Apocalypse now. I love the taste of pepper balls in the morning. And you got a giraffe on? Is that a giraffe there? I had the way. You know what? My thinking was mate that, you know, I wear the giraffe outfit, you know, because they already had green up there, the Portland frog. Yeah, the frog.

You know, and I don't want to wear the same dress to the prom to a certain degree. Even though when I got up there, a lot of them disclosed, like, you're our big, like, inspiration for this because I've been wearing the onesies for a couple years now at the protests. And like half of them were like we've been waiting for you and that's why I brought that energy there I was like oh my god this is like my family they all were aware of my antics they couldn't get their message across with the pepper balls I sat on the sidelines my face was burning my eyes were puffy I had to get saline solution from the camps and I felt like a wrestler and what I do I consider judo I'm just reversing the energies of maga back onto them and stuff so I broke them you could see the guys on the top

the roof. They're very just, uh, completely frustrated in everything. And they send out the guys and you see the video and stuff. And they grab me. And yeah, they pull me into the detention center. Yeah. Come on. What? What are you doing? He's talking? What? What do you mean by pull you into the detention center? Like, do they, they cuff you? Yeah, yeah. They use the metal handcuffs. They pull me in. You can see on the video when it extends. and stuff that they pull me deep inside the gates they shut the gates they bring me into a uh i don't holding tank like but there's like 20 of them in there and they're all like they're all messing with me like they're all just there 20 then being like 20 agents yeah 20 of various like 20 agents

uh officers uh people of various army fatigues and normal clothing and stuff and yeah i mean i'm getting 20 people that's right I'm talking about, yeah, you do it. A lot of free time for a lot of people for a giraffe doing hit songs. But, like, they sit me down. They take everything off of me, the amps, which I was grateful for because it was covered with that arsenic pepper spray and stuff or the shots. And they're messing with me.

One of them is articulate while the other ones are making fun of me. Like, you do this for a living? And I'm like, yeah, you're not even from the area. You flew in for this. And I'm like, most of you. aren't from the area it turned into like dark night like uh what was the hef ledger's character like well most of you aren't from the area either am i right and they were yeah actually and um finally one of their uh cops came up or dhs agents and was just like yeah we're going to get you

on trespassing for federal property somebody gave me two joints that morning and i had them on me and i was like ah and then they pulled out the joints and they're like we're also going to get you for having marijuana on a federal site and I'm like you guys pulled me onto a federal site and I'm in character mind you so it's like the whole time I believe in Oregon that you're allowed to carry joints on the street no and that's why I said weeds legal in Oregon what what's the matter here and uh no it's it was the federal property that they were trying to get me pinned to um for the arrest and whatnot it's not working on me it's like I'm being my own paralegal and lawyer and just talking sense like I don't think any of this is going to hold me you know so what are we doing here and you know basically after like 20 minutes I'm cracking them up and stuff I'm like so what do we you know what I mean I have to what are we doing we're going to get the lime we're going to get the hoses we can go suck a knuckle deep and some of them start cracking up um quite a few of them knew me and they're like oh my god aren't you supposed to be an alligator today or something and and so I start like talking oh yeah I'm

the Guantanamo Gator. I do the YMCA song like Trump was on the Jeffrey of Steenplain and they're cracking up. They're trying not to show their faces to like the head bad cop that day or whatnot. After 20 minutes, this really cool black dude is like standing next to me taking my information. He's like, all right, you've been actually on real good behavior and everything. So I'm just going to take these cuffs off and we're going to lead you out there. and I'm like, and, you know, I'm still in character a little bit and stuff. And I'm like, well, can I go out there?

And like, you guys just leave me through the back, bring me to the airport and have everybody think I'm like trapped in there. Like, what the hell's happening to Robbie? Jumper cables on the nuts? Like, what are they doing to them? You know, I'd rather be like a martyr so these people, the frogs and the unicorns and the hippos are inspired out there. It's like a really cosplay Lord of the Rings scene and stuff.

And no, they were like, no, we're going to escort you back out. And so I go through the front gates and stuff. And it turns into like fast times at Ridgemont High. They gave me back the joint. So I went over to this like a little train stop with graffiti over there with like the Portland frog, the hippo and the unicorn. And we start smoking. And you know what the funniest thing is is that when that started happening,

the protest stopped in front of the gates. There was only like one unicorn. And now everybody's listening to music. We're having vegan mac and cheese. Somebody had cornbread, Domino's pizza. And it just turns into a party. Yeah. And so what do they charge you with in the end? It's like a CVS receipt. It's a citation. And it's basically failure to comply with the directions of a law enforcement officer.

And what was their direction? They wanted you to stop singing. What was their direction? No, stop crossing the blue line, which on video, because I, you know, I brought my own shooters too. you know and my camera comes were a lot closer it's like football i was clearly in bounds both feet in bounds i was making a football motion and i'm like you guys got nothing on me i'm from new england we have six rings don't tell me how to play this game and then the cops because a lot of them are either clan members or jocks just start laughing their asses off i'm making a football motion when i'm doing that with the amplifier i'm not going over the line dude so like what are we doing here, man.

Yeah, no, but they want me to come back to Portland. That's the inconvenience. They thought they could humiliate me by, you know, I'm going to have to go back to Boston. And that's what, you know, when they realized I wasn't getting scared because of their federal charges bullshit at the end of like, well, it's going to suck to come back to Portland. And I'm like, well, it's going

to suck when I come back with my dream team of lawyers because you guys are getting sued for $20 million because those pepper pills are toxic and I get all the footage and stuff. You guys unlawfully detaining me here is toxic and you know the uh i don't know you guys you know pulling using force and all that so i'll see you in court too man you don't humiliate me or the latino people or anybody like this it was

i like it in a character just to put it in all in context it's a pretty crazy situation i mean you have the president of united states saying that portland is a hellhole and a hellscape we need to send in troops and stuff uh into the city uh because of all the you know rioting and the violent protesters supposedly by protesters. And then you're there in a giraffe costume. You're with like a hippo and a unicorn and a frog. You're smoking a joint, eating vegan mac and cheese, singing Rod Stewart.

And they decided that was so scary that they had to shoot pepper bullets at you and pepper balls at you and detain you. It's pretty strange state of affairs. Yeah, as Rick James would say, it's a pretty freaky scene in there. Ow. I mean, it was ridiculous. But you can't fight absurd.

with valor. They want you to become, you know, a debater and get into the mud with them. And they're not trying to win the arguments. They just want you to lose face and get emotional again so they can say their absurd stuff. You know, it's shit. It's basically that. When you understand that and you're debating mag or you're debating these absolute characters, you don't have to be that invested.

Just treat it like WWE wrestling in that regard and just get more. absurd or sometimes. All right, brother. Well, I agree with you on the strategy. I appreciate your bringing in the fucking humor. The W.W.E. analysis is exactly right. I do think, and I'm glad you're okay. And I'm glad it was kind of, it was only 20 minutes you're able to be in character and get those guys to laugh. But it is fucking absurd that in the country, somebody can't stand outside, sing a Rod Stewart cover, put on a giraffe costume and not get shot at by with pepper balls. I mean, it feels like in a free country in America, you should be able to do that. And so, You know, that's where I'm met.

Keep in touch with us from the road, all right, brother? Oh, absolutely. All you folks are great out there. God bless and enjoy the rest of your evening, folks. Later, homie.