Run, Naruto, Run: Cosplay event planned around Trump Tower

By Doug Rapp

If you see a group of people wearing shiny headbands and running around Trump Tower, know it was planned.

Called the “Naruto Run Around Every Trump Tower,” the Sunday, Nov. 3 event is hosted by a comedy podcast, Thought Cops, which takes a weekly look at “outrage culture.”

The plan is for attendees to gather at 4 p.m. in cosplay (costume play) as Naruto, the young ninja star of a Japanese manga series, said Kevin Podas, one of the organizers and co-host of Thought Cops. Naruto runs leaning forward, with his arms sticking straight behind him. Participants will then run Naruto-style around Trump Tower at 4:20 p.m.

“This is apolitical,” Podas said. “It’s about coming together. It’s for a good cause.”

People in the cosplay community are at both ends of the political spectrum, he said.

If people see it as a Trump protest, “that’s up for interpretation,” Podas said.

“Most people just want to dress up and run around like cartoons,” he said.

Podas is hoping for a couple hundred participants, using word of mouth and plugging the run on the podcast, co-hosted by Grant Mooney, to boost attendance. Up to 75 people have expressed interest so far, he said.

“I’m grateful that people have taken an interest in anything we do and the fact that people are sharing this is pretty cool,” Podas said.

Another Naruto Run around Trump Tower was organized in 2017. Even though Podas and Mooney didn’t organize it, they filmed a short video of it for their YouTube Channel.

Podas said there was “quite a police presence” near Trump Tower at that event. The run barely started before one participant ran into the street, prompting the police to arrest him and shut down the event.

Podas said, like the 2017 event, they’re hoping to attract college students from DePaul and Columbia who are into Naruto.

“It’s supposed to be fun and funny,” he said. “If anyone can enjoy [Naruto] the way we do, I’m thankful for that.”