DOJ Civil Rights division investigates Portland Police over response to Antifa attack on Katie Daviscourt, arrest of Nick Sortor

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon has launched an investigation into the assault of Post Millennial journalist Katie Daviscourt and the arrest of journalist Nick Sortor. This comes as the Trump administration is looking to make cuts to federal funds going to Oregon, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, "we will not fund states that allow anarchy."

"Your immediate attention to this matter is required," wrote Dhillon. "We write regarding Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) response to incidents surrounding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland and, specifically, the City of Portland’s use of its policing powers in a manner that may be based on viewpoint discrimination."

The letter noted three specific issues: "PPB reportedly arrested individuals who may have been involved in an altercation choosing to arrest Nick Sortor, but not others"; "PPB reportedly failed to identify or arrest individuals who allegedly assaulted Katie Daviscourt, even after briefly detaining the individuals; and "the City of Portland reportedly has attempted to use its policing powers through a zoning enforcement action to limit ICE’s use of its Portland facility." 

"While we have not reached any conclusions on these allegations, we note a consistent theme in these allegations—all three would choose one viewpoint over another. Moreover, the allegations implicate the City’s performance under the Settlement Agreement in the above-referenced case."

Dhillon requested body camera recordings of those officers involved in the arrest of Sortor and who were "involved in the observation of the incident involving Ms. Daviscourt, the brief detention of the alleged assailants, and any follow-up discussion regarding the incident at the scene."

She also requested all unredacted reports and reviews involving the two incidents, as well as all complaints involved in the incidents, "or the decision to target the ICE facility for zoning enforcement and the Cirt’s ongoing administrative investigation materials involving such complaints."

The requested documents and footage are required to be in by October 10. 

Daviscourt was assaulted outside the Portland ICE facility on Tuesday night while reporting on the violent anti-ICE demonstrations that have occurred repeatedly since June. A woman waving a flagpole struck Daviscourt in the face, leaving her with a black eye, concussion, and an eye hemorrhage.

Despite the attacker being pointed out to police, they did not make an arrest. Sortor was arrested by Portland police on Thursday night while reporting outside the same ICE facility. Sortor said his camera was broken and agitators threw multiple punches at him, but when he went to the police, they arrested him.