Antifa members assaulted at least two conservative journalists on Thursday night in Portland, Oregon, during an anti-ICE protest. Yet, it appears the only one who was arrested for the violence was one of the journalists.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin, in a post on X, explained that independent journalist Nick Sortor was assaulted after he grabbed a burning American flag and put out the fire. Footage circulating on social media appears to show the incident.
Sortor, who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, told Melugin about the details of the incident.
He says he was getting video of protesters getting maced by federal agents, which was embarrassing video for them as they were “crying” etc. He says they then swarmed/surrounded him, pushed him down into a flower bed, and someone threw a punch. Nick says he swung back and missed, then disengaged and walked over to a group of Portland PD.
He says he was then shocked to be arrested by them, and he sat in the back of a police cruiser while officers figured out what to charge him with.
I asked him about the female protester who was also arrested with him. He said he talked to her in the jail and she didn’t seem like she was the one who assaulted him.
BREAKING: Just spoke on the phone with @nicksortor after he was released from custody. He tells me he’s been charged with disorderly conduct. I asked what happened?
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 3, 2025
He says he was getting video of protesters getting maced by federal agents, which was embarrassing video for them…
NEW: Last night at the Portland ICE building, we witnessed anti-ICE protesters burning an American flag. @nicksortor then grabbed it from them, put the flames out, and took away what was left of the flag. Nick was arrested later in the night by Portland PD after videos appear to… pic.twitter.com/tQVjEEkLRw
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 3, 2025
Looked like @nicksortor got jumped. We are on the lower roof at ICE but difficult to tell exactly what happened at this distance. Portland liaison officers stand nearby and watch. pic.twitter.com/rC18oWlSuy
— C.K. Bouferrache aka Honeybadgermom (@hunnybadgermom) October 3, 2025
The Post Millennial’s Katie Daviscourt was also assaulted at the protest. She appeared on Fox News with Jesse Watters, sporting a black eye. “So that’s what it’s been like covering Portland for the past four months,” she said. “Complete lawlessness.”
Watters asked whether claims that the chaos is happening on one city block, as some have claimed. “That’s not true,” Daviscourt said. “It went from being a war zone to one city block, but it’s actually several blocks that is completely controlled by Antifa-affiliated protesters who harass, assault, and threaten anyone they perceive to be a threat to their cause, including journalists, local residents, and ICE agents.”
The host further noted how law enforcement officers don’t take action to stop the Antifa-led violence. “Yeah, that's absolutely correct,” the journalist said. “Last night, I got assaulted, and I immediately ran to a Portland police officer, hunted down the suspect, chased her through the streets, and said, ‘This is my assault suspect. Can you guys finally do something?’ I had eyes on her for about 35 minutes. Portland police refused to come in and make an arrest. I had three officers just standing there watching me try to hunt down this suspect.”
🚨NEW: Post Millennial Journalist @KatieDaviscourt got a BLACK-EYE from TRANTIFA and she says PORTLAND PD REFUSED to ARREST the attacker 🚨
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 2, 2025
“I ran straight to a Portland police officer. I tracked the suspect for 35 minutes through the streets and told them, “This is the person… pic.twitter.com/gFcISeVNdE
The fact that Sortor and Daviscourt were physically assaulted by Antifa thugs is bad enough. The fact that law enforcement believed it was more necessary to arrest Sortor while ignoring the assailants is even worse. It tells us all we need to know: Portland’s government is perfectly fine with Antifa operatives attacking people, but has a problem with people opposing them.