Portland, OR. — Portland Police arrested journalist Nick Sortor in the area of the ICE building. The incident has drawn a substantial response including action from DOJ and statements from the White House. The ICE facility in Portland has been a site of ongoing controversy and conflict. The area around the facility has seen nightly protests which have frequently escalated and resulted in arrests with a recent incident leaving another journalist, Katie Daviscourt, assaulted by people connected to Portland Antifa.
The Portland Police Bureau confirmed several arrests during October 2 demonstrations in the South Waterfront, including a prominent social media figure and individuals with varied political views. Officials stressed arrests were made on observed behavior and probable cause, not politics or public profile. Final charging decisions rest with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. PPB emphasized its commitment to public safety, lawful assembly rights, and impartial law enforcement.
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division raised concerns about potential viewpoint discrimination by the Portland Police Bureau during recent protests at the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. In an October 3 letter, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon cited three issues: the arrest of journalist Nick Sorter while others involved in the same altercation were not arrested; the failure to charge individuals allegedly involved in the assault of journalist Katie Daviscourt; and the City of Portland’s reported use of zoning enforcement to restrict ICE operations.
Federal officials requested unredacted body-worn camera footage, incident reports, complaints, and internal communications by October 10, warning the allegations could affect the City’s compliance with a longstanding federal settlement agreement.
Videos on X show some of the interactions from the night including Sortor putting out a burning American flag, and footage of his arrest by Portland Police.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gave the following statement.
Just last night we saw an extremely troubling incident where conservative journalist Nick Sortor was captured on video being taken into custody by the Portland Police after he was ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults. Instead of arresting these violent mob members night after night after night who are ravaging this community the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos and everyone in this room should be extremely concerned about that. The Department of Justice spoke with that journalist this morning and will be launching a full investigation into his arrest. This incident is part of a troubling trend in core Portland where left-wing mobs believe they get to decide who get to visit and live in their city. It is not their city, it is the American people’s city and President Trump is going to restore that. I just spoke with the President about this and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland. We will not fund states that allow anarchy. There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately, including enhanced CBP and ICE resources. Law and order will prevail and President Trump will make sure of it.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day recently gave an interview to CNN about the deployment of National Guard troops in Portland. In the interview he was asked “do you believe having them there is necessary do you need them there?” Chief Day replied “no just as you highlighted a moment ago we’re talking about one city block in 145 square miles. Certainly been some challenges down at the facility. Portland Police has been engaged down there extensively over the last nine months, we’ve made over 20 arrests ourselves, conducting assault investigations ongoing. We’re working closely with our federal partners.” He concluded saying “Portland is very much engaged, once again this is just one small block in a big city that we’re trying to manage for all Portlanders.”
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