Conservative influencer Nick Sortor has been arrested after allegedly getting into a fight outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
Sortor, 27, was released without bond after being arrested in the altercation in Portland, Oregon late Thursday evening.
He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree disorderly conduct along with two people, the Portland Police Bureau said.
It comes after Sortor shared videos earlier this week of clashes outside the Portland ICE facility, which has frequently been targeted by immigration protesters amid Donald Trump‘s deportation crackdown.
Sortor took to X after he was released, saying: ‘Hey (Portland Police): you made a big freaking mistake.’
‘You PROVED what we’ve all been saying for years: you’re CORRUPT and CONTROLLED by vioIent Antifa thugs who terrorize the streets.
‘You thought arresting me would make me shut up and go away. You couldn’t have been more wrong. Stay tuned.’
He added in a follow-up post that Portland Police ‘are going to absolutely HATE what’s coming. Lawyer up, folks! Announcement coming shortly.’
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson shared footage of Sortor being detained as he claimed he was ‘attacked by Antifa’ and branded the arrest ‘an open assault on the First Amendment.’
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor has been arrested after allegedly getting into a fight outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. An image of a separate clash at the Portland ICE facility on Thursday night is pictured
Sortor, 27, is known to agitate left-wing groups on social media, and earlier in the week he shared an X post predicting that he may be arrested at the ICE facility
Sortor took to X after he was released and shared footage of himself in cuffs, saying: ‘Hey (Portland Police): you made a big freaking mistake’
The exact details of how Sortor was arrested are unclear, although the Portland Police Bureau said it came after a number of fights outside the ICE facility on Thursday night.
An earlier incident saw law enforcement briefly detain two other people, and police said it ‘continued to monitor the situation and responded after seeing additional fights break out.’
Sortor was in Portland as the city has become the latest target of Trump’s federal crackdown on crime.
The arrest came hours before a judge is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to block the White House from sending National Guard troops to the city.
Sortor is known to agitate left-wing groups on social media, and earlier in the week he shared an X post predicting that he may be arrested at the ICE facility.
‘If I defend myself, *I* will be the one who gets arrested. Not the assailant,’ he posted.
‘Portland is a f***ing third world hellhole,’ he wrote. ‘Antifa is in full control out here. President Trump NEEDS to step in.’
Sortor commands a following of over 1.2 million users on X, and first shot to prominence in 2023 as he criticized the Biden administration for its response to a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
He has since made Trump’s deportation and crime crackdowns a central pillar of his social media activism.
He traveled to Portland to support the deployment of National Guard troops, a move that Oregon authorities have fought.
Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day told CNN earlier this week that the move would be an overstep, and cited falling crime numbers in the city.
Referring to recent clashes at the ICE facility, he said: ‘We’re talking about one city block in 145 square miles.’
‘Certainly (there have) been some challenges down at the facility. Police have been engaged down there extensively over the last nine months. We’ve made over 20 arrests ourselves. We’ve conducted assault investigations.
‘Portland is very much engaged, and, once again, this is just one small block in a big city that we are trying to manage for all of Portlanders.’
