Tag: Nick Sorter

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the arrest by police in Portland, Oregon, of a man that White House officials call a “conservative journalist” trying to report on protestors outside the downtown Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, the United State Department of Justice is launching an investigation into incident.

According to the Portland Police Bureau, just after 11:00 p.m., October 2nd, officers responded to fights observed outside the ICE building and arrested three people. Booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of disorderly conduct were Nicholas Sortor, 27, of Washington, DC; Angela Davis, 49, of Vernonia, Oregon; and Son Mi Yi, 43, of Portland.

Sorter’s arrest was caught on video.  He claims he was just defending himself, as he attempted to document the protest.

“This was as big of a surprise to me as it was to everybody else. All of a sudden, you know, I’m being jumped by Antifa thugs,” Sortor later told Fox News. “I get back up, I stumble away and go back toward cops where I think, you know, at least, all right, well, maybe that’ll be a safer place for me to go… never suspected that I was going to be the target of the arrest, that they were coming in to me.”

In statement to FOX News, the PPB wrote, “as with all such situations, arrests are based on observed behavior and probable cause — not political affiliation or public profile. Formal charges will be determined by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.”

The following day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the Sortor arrest at press briefing.

“The Justice Department spoke with that journalist this morning, and they will be launching a full investigation into his arrest,” Leavitt said.

“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 be cut in Portland,” added Leavitt. “There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately, including enhanced CBP and ICE resources.”