Portland has dropped the disorderly conduct charges against independent journalist Nick Sortor, who was arrested on October 2 while covering attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities and agents, Breitbart reported. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has now promised to go after the two men who were reportedly pummeling Sortor when police arrested all three of them.
On Monday, District Attorney Nathan Vasquez announced that he'd dropped the charges against the independent journalist and frequent Fox News guest. "After a careful review of the investigation, including reports and video, we do not believe the crime of Disorderly Conduct can be proven against Mr. Sortor beyond a reasonable doubt," Vasquez claimed.
Portland has a history of tacitly supporting civil unrest, and last week's arrest was a rarity that somehow included charging the alleged victim. Vasquez attempted to take the 'all-sides' approach in his remarks about the situation in a news release.
"Free speech does not include the freedom to commit crimes. It does not matter if an individual is expressing ideology from the left, right, or center. What matters is whether or not there is evidence to prove a crime was committed," Vasquez claimed.
For his part, Sortor was grateful that Vasquez was doing the right thing after the fact, but he promised this wouldn't be the end of it. "Trust me. This is ONLY the beginning," Sortor wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on October 6.
Indeed, it appears that Sortor will be taking legal action against the Portland Police Department. In a post to X on Monday, Sortor's attorney, Angus Lee, drafted a letter to Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day claiming that his client was singled out by "a member of the command staff and/or a supervising officer" for arrest rather than just an officer on the scene who made an error.
The Vancouver, Washington, attorney said this was instead "part of a larger pattern and practice within the Portland Police Bureau of suppressing and silencing conservative media and political activity." Lee made demands to be met within seven days of the letter, including a "formal apology to sortor" and "the initiation of an internal investigation into the circumstances of this arrest, including the involvement of supervisory or command staff personnel,” Lee stated in his letter.
“Mr. Sortor hopes the Bureau will take immediate corrective action and demonstrate a renewed commitment to constitutional policing, the protection of free expression, and accountability within your department," he added. The final line promised they would "proceed accordingly" if these demands were not met.
Hey @PortlandPolice Chief Day:
Check your inbox!
We’re FAR from done here 😏 pic.twitter.com/0vhvjXd1Ab
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 6, 2025
Like many other conservative journalists, Sortor was attempting to call attention to the situation in Portland, whereby the city is often under siege from protesters as law enforcement does little to stop it. The leftist extremists who run the city have no interest in restoring law and order, as evidenced by recent legal action seeking to keep the National Guard from restoring peace.
As Fox News reported, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from deploying troops to assist federal agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security in quelling the riots and attacks against them. Even after the injunction was issued on Sunday, agents made arrests and used tear gas to stop what the president called "violent riots" sparked off by ICE raids.
The Pentagon maintains that "while federalized Oregon National Guard members remain under T10 status, there are no Oregon National Guard members on mission in or around the Portland area." Nevertheless, the federal government is not about to cede the city to these insurrectionists.
"The facts haven’t changed: President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement. We expect to be vindicated by a higher court," said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement.
The situation in Portland is out of control, but leftists seem intent on leaving it that way as long as it's politically expedient. Trump has every right to use the power of the federal government to restore order, and conservative journalists like Sortor have an obligation to show the American people the truth of what's happening as Trump cheers on truth tellers like him.
