Another night of chaos in Portland brought with it a bittersweet promise of federal investigations as journalist Nick Sortor spoke out following his arrest.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) and local officials keen on downplaying trouble in the City of Roses appeared to have some heavy lifting to do following the arrest of Sortor. Speaking with Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin after his release, the journalist argued he’d been handcuffed when he’d turned to the Portland Police for help after an alleged assault by the “violent criminals.”
The exchange, which aired during a segment on Fox News’ “Outnumbered,” found Sortor explaining after footage was played of one scuffle, “They threw a punch — multiple punches at me. They broke my camera by hitting that. So, I was on the ground at that point. I tried to swing. I missed.”
Additional footage of Sortor’s interactions with the extremists protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) featured the pursuit of the journalist, blocking his path while hurling expletives, before a physical altercation found him knocked over into the area described by Melugin as a flower bed.
BREAKING: Police arrest conservative journalist Nick Sorter after he says anti-I.C.E. rioters attacked him.
He tells Bill Melugin he received a personal phone call from AG Pam Bondi that DOJ is launching a full investigation into the Portland Police Bureau in relation to his… pic.twitter.com/xpkFQvXqbV
— Outnumbered (@OutnumberedFNC) October 3, 2025
Portland — Here’s video showing @nicksortor being pursued and threatened by Antifa and far-left extremists before he was arrested by @PortlandPolice: pic.twitter.com/BOmTjuasL6
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 4, 2025
He explained to Melugin that after he saw the opportunity to get up and get away, “That’s when I went over to the police officers, which I thought, you know, maybe they’d help me. But no, instead they threw me in handcuffs.”
“This is going to backfire on them tremendously. It already is. People knew that something out here stunk, and that it was corrupt and that the police are — they take the side of the violent criminals that are here every single day assaulting ICE officers, assaulting journalists,” argued Sortor. “And then a reporter comes and tries to embed deep within the chaos that’s going [on] out here, and he’s the one that gets arrested.”
Worth noting, Sortor had also been videoed taking a flag away from a protester to extinguish the flames after it had been set on fire. That protester was said to be one Richard Timothy Hernandez, described by journalist Andy Ngo as a “violent extremist who was involved in the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots.”
The man holding the burning flag is this violent extremist who was involved in the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots: https://t.co/h3ITKEpvun
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 3, 2025
It was further explained that Attorney General Pam Bondi had personally told Sortor that the Justice Department is launching an investigation into the Portland Police regarding the arrest, and at the same time, the Department of Homeland Security will be expanding the presence of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE in Portland following the arrest.
The journalist posted on X, “I have been in direct contact with top officials at DHS. What’s coming in Portland is unprecedented. All thanks to @PortlandPolice exposing themselves by arresting journalists. Great work, Portland!”
Additionally, he shared a letter that Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon had transmitted on Friday to officials in Portland to investigate whether there had been use of “policing powers in a manner that may be based on viewpoint discrimination.”
I have been in direct contact with top officials at DHS.
What’s coming in Portland is unprecedented.
All thanks to @PortlandPolice exposing themselves by arresting journalists.
Great work, Portland!
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 3, 2025
BREAKING: Asst AG Harmeet Dhillon has ALREADY sent a letter to the City of Portland, demanding documents related to Portland PD’s targeted arrest of me, as well as their refusal to arrest @KatieDaviscourt’s attacker
Harmeet is wasting NO TIME holding Portland accountable! pic.twitter.com/L6uqdkMcl2
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 3, 2025
Among those reacting to the latest riotous images coming out of Portland, The Federalist CEO Sean Davis asserted, “The Portland Police Department isn’t colluding with Antifa. It *is* Antifa. It is the uniformed and armed branch of Antifa. Everyone now sees it, and it explains why the Portland Police constantly runs interference for violent Antifa terrorists.”
The Portland Police Department isn’t colluding with Antifa. It *is* Antifa. It is the uniformed and armed branch of Antifa. Everyone now sees it, and it explains why the Portland Police constantly runs interference for violent Antifa terrorists. https://t.co/I7uzhTzNNG
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 3, 2025
Excellent. PPD needs investigating.
— Sasquatch (@Sasquatcher2) October 3, 2025
There’s video to prove Nicks story. The Portland police have sold their soul to antifa. Arrest them all.
— Terri Justick (@ascoobydooroo) October 3, 2025
Portland PD just opened a can on themselves!
— Timothy Hunt (@TimothyHun73144) October 4, 2025
I love good cops, but the bad cops must be weeded out
— Jill Rowell (@rowell5807) October 3, 2025
This is the nature of liberalism. They blame the victim instead of the aggressor. I wish I loved anything as much as progressive love criminals and illegals.
— TraderJill (Leigh) (@RealTraderJill) October 3, 2025
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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