Multnomah County District Attorney's Office Declines To Charge Journalist
For over three months, tensions around Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building have been steadily escalating — not just between demonstrators and federal authorities, but between left-wing agitators and independent journalists trying to document the nightly chaos. Among the most consistent concerns raised by critics is a pattern they say has become impossible to ignore: Portland Police officers are largely passive, even as harassment of reporters, and sometimes violence, unfolds just feet away.
In the latest incident to draw national attention, conservative journalist Nick Sortor was arrested by Portland police last Thursday while reporting on the scene. The video, however, tells a more complicated story than the charge of "disorderly conduct" might suggest. In his own words, Sortor claims he was the victim — pursued, threatened, and eventually punched and shoved into a hole. Yet, it was he who ended up in handcuffs. His alleged assailant? Not arrested.
Tomorrow at 2pm PT, I will be arraigned in Portland for “Disorderly Conduct II”
I will NOT take a plea deal of any kind. Because I did NOTHING wrong. I will fight this until the end, and expose Portland Police in the process
THIS is the altercation that I’m *supposedly* being… pic.twitter.com/dzcDWWE3os
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 5, 2025
The situation further unraveled when the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced it would not pursue charges against Sortor. Their reasoning was clear: while the arresting officers may have believed they had probable cause based on the confusion of the moment, there simply wasn't enough evidence to prove disorderly conduct “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In contrast, two others arrested at the same demonstration — identified as Angella Lyn Davis and Son Mi Yi — are moving forward through the judicial process.
Sortor, undeterred, promised to press on, vowing this is “ONLY the beginning” in his campaign to expose what he sees as the increasingly radicalized, unchecked activism tearing through Portland’s streets.
The evening of Sept 20th Katie and I were present for one minute and fifty seconds when I was attacked, robbed and sprayed with bear spray. This is what police said we invited to happen to us for being down here. As if the first amendment doesn’t apply to us. It’s the “your skirt… https://t.co/7PY9rCYjuX
— C.K. Bouferrache aka Honeybadgermom (@hunnybadgermom) October 6, 2025
But his case is not isolated. Journalist Katie Daviscourt, another well-known reporter in conservative media circles, recently said she was assaulted by an Antifa-aligned protester who deliberately struck her in the face with a flag pole, leaving her with a black eye.
Despite capturing the assailant on camera and flagging down a nearby Portland police officer, no arrest was made. Incredibly, the department later put out a public call for help identifying the suspect — the same suspect Daviscourt had already pointed out.
This dynamic — where aggressive demonstrators are allowed to act with impunity while independent journalists are criminalized or ignored — has led to a growing chorus of concern over selective enforcement and political bias within the Portland Police Department. Critics argue that the police force has effectively become a bystander, unwilling or unable to intervene when violence is perpetrated by left-wing activists.
