Arrest of conservative influencer Nick Sortor outside Portland ICE building now under federal investigation
The ICE building in Portland has been the site of protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies for months.
By Andy Rose, CNN
(CNN) — A conservative influencer who this week posted videos of clashes outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, has been released without bond after he was arrested late Thursday night during what police characterized as a fight.
Nick Sortor, 27, of Washington, DC, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, along with two people from Oregon, the Portland Police Bureau said early Friday in a news release.
Now, the Justice Department is investigating Sortor’s arrest near the South Portland facility that has become the latest flashpoint in a city with a long history of loud protests and is now in a key target of the Trump administration’s broader crime crackdown in large Democratic-led cities.
A Portland Police Bureau Rapid Response Team arrested Sortor and the two Oregonians after an earlier incident in which federal law enforcement briefly detained two others during a scuffle, it said, adding the police team had “continued to monitor the situation and responded after seeing additional fights break out.”
In Sortor’s view, local police “made a big freaking mistake,” he wrote of the arrest Friday morning on his X account. “You PROVED what we’ve all been saying for years: you’re CORRUPT and CONTROLLED by vioIent Antifa thugs who terrorize the streets.”
Sortor was called by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday morning and told the Justice Department will investigate what Sortor called his “wrongful arrest,” according to a post on his X account.
The Justice Department confirmed the investigation to CNN, saying it will be supervised by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, whose official X account reposted Sortor’s message and advised Portland: “Buckle up.”
The Portland Police Bureau denied politics had anything to do with Sortor’s case: “Among those arrested was an individual known to have a significant social media presence, as well as others representing a range of political viewpoints,” the agency said in a statement midday Friday. “As with all such situations, arrests are based on observed behavior and probable cause – not political affiliation or public profile.”
The Trump administration cited Sortor’s arrest Friday in a new threat to federal funding for the city: “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,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “We will not fund states that allow anarchy.”
While police did not detail the altercation that led to Sortor’s arrests, his case immediately created a stir against Portland police in conservative social media: “They will arrest an independent journalist but not violent antifa members who assault cops and journalists,” posted the account founded by influencer Chaya Raichik.
“Maybe we just need to shut down Portland for good,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas wrote on X.
Not all potential criminal violations at the protest site will result in immediate arrests, the Portland Police Bureau said, adding, “That does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later.”
Sortor was detained just hours before a federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to block President Donald Trump’s National Guard callout in Portland, citing the need to protect ICE facilities from protesters.
Sortor and Son Mimi Yi of Portland were released without bond overnight, while Angela Davis of Vernonia, Oregon, was still in custody early Friday morning, jail records show. It was not clear if any of those arrested had attorneys, and no court date was immediately set.
Sortor, who has not responded to CNN’s request for comment, earlier this week tweeted speculation he might be detained.
“If I defend myself, *I* will be the one who gets arrested. Not the assailant,” Sortor posted to X late Wednesday night, calling Portland a “third world hellhole.”
His early online posts focused on environmental crises
With 1.2 million followers on X and a presence on other mainstream social media platforms, Sortor’s influence traces to his coverage in 2023 of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in which he often criticized government officials over environment damage.
He offered similar coverage of that summer’s wildfires in Maui and in recent months has posted about the nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown, with a focus on protests outside ICE facilities, and in celebration of the legacy of the slain conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk.
Sortor headed to Portland this week, where tension over White House immigration policies peaked in mid-summer with a declared riot and arson arrests. The scene was largely calm until Trump’s announcement this week he was federalizing 200 National Guard troops in the city.
Portland and the state government have sued, saying the maneuver “infringes on Oregon’s sovereign interest in managing law enforcement within its borders.”
With crime down by double digits in nearly all major categories, federal intervention is not needed, Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day told CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlin Collins” on Wednesday.
“We’re talking about one city block in 145 square miles,” he said of recent protests around the ICE building. “Certainly (there have) been some challenges down at the facility. Police have been engaged down there extensively over the last nine months. We’ve made over 20 arrests ourselves. We’ve conducted assault investigations …
“Portland is very much engaged, and, once again, this is just one small block in a big city that we are trying to manage for all of Portlanders,” Day said.
Meanwhile, troops were getting supplies and training at a facility 100 miles away before starting patrols, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley told CNN affiliate KGW on Wednesday.
The National Guard was getting further training and expected in Portland in the coming days, Day told CNN on Wednesday.
In the past, prosecutors in Portland routinely declined to pursue cases against people arrested for nonviolent offenses during protests, although the Multnomah County district attorney promised earlier this year to change that policy, The Oregonian reported. CNN reached out to the DA’s office early Friday to ask if it plans to file charges in Sortor’s case.
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CNN’s Michelle Krupa contributed to this report.
