Conservative journalist Nick Sortor was arrested Thursday night while covering escalating protests outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, despite claiming he had just been assaulted by Antifa demonstrators.
The arrest has intensified concerns about how local police are handling violence directed at members of the press.
Sortor told Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin that he had been filming clashes between federal agents and demonstrators when protesters suddenly turned on him.
According to his account, he was shoved into a flower bed, struck at and tried to defend himself before moving toward nearby officers.
Rather than detaining the individuals he identified, police placed him under arrest on a disorderly conduct charge.
He was transported to the Multnomah County Detention Center, held overnight and released the following morning.
“He was shocked to be arrested by them,” Melugin said on air. “He sat in the back of a police cruiser while officers figured out what to charge him with.”
The episode drew comparisons to an earlier attack on journalist Katie Daviscourt of The Post Millennial.
She was assaulted earlier in the week while reporting from the same site and suffered a concussion and an eye hemorrhage.
Despite Daviscourt leading an officer directly to the suspect, police declined to take the woman into custody.
After Sortor’s arrest, Daviscourt said her colleague had been “targeted by Antifa” shortly before he was handcuffed.
Additional footage from photographer C.K. Bouferrache appeared to support claims that Sortor had been singled out by protesters.
Witnesses said the aggression was aimed at his reporting, not instigated by him. Still, he was the only person placed in custody that night.
The protests outside Portland’s ICE building have grown increasingly confrontational since summer, TPM notes.
Demonstrators regularly hurl threats at law enforcement and their supporters. In one widely circulated clip, protesters shouted at ICE backers: “Count the days you’re alive, bitch, you’re marked.”
Federal officers have also arrested agitators for trespassing and assaulting agents.
Physical confrontations remain frequent. In one instance, a masked protester in black attacked a man wearing a Charlie Kirk “freedom” shirt before federal officers intervened and detained the aggressor.
The crowd responded by chanting insults at the victim as he was escorted away.
Federal officials say the violence has become a law enforcement priority. The Portland FBI confirmed it has opened 27 active investigations tied to incidents at the facility and recorded 128 arrests since June.
“The FBI and our partners will hold people accountable for their violent actions,” the bureau said in a recent statement, noting that one suspect was charged with felony assault against a federal officer.
Local political leaders have resisted federal involvement, accusing President Donald Trump of overreach.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and several other Oregon mayors signed a letter denouncing his call to deploy the National Guard, arguing it could violate “the constitutional rights of our community.”
Trump, who has designated Antifa as a terrorist organization, has pledged to send additional reinforcements if necessary to secure federal property.
Supporters of his approach argue that local officials have shown little willingness to confront violent demonstrators, leaving journalists and residents vulnerable.
For Sortor, the arrest underscores the risks faced by reporters covering street protests in Portland.
While Antifa activists continue nightly clashes with law enforcement, questions remain over why police chose to detain a journalist pointing out his attackers rather than the individuals who allegedly assaulted him.
WATCH:
