Portland Says Feds Are the Ones Engaging in “Viewpoint Discrimination”

Federal law enforcement officers have used excessive force against peaceful protestors and given favorable treatment to those who support Trump administration policies, Portland City Attorney Robert Taylor told Justice Department officials today.

He made the claim in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asserting the city’s perspective in a dispute between local and federal officials over law enforcement’s handling of the mostly small-scale protests that have occurred in recent months outside an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in south Portland.

Among the examples the city attorney cited: Federal law enforcement officers have shoved peaceful veterans and elderly people to the ground; indiscriminately used impact munitions to disperse an otherwise peaceful crowd; and discharged pepper spray directly into the face of an otherwise peaceful demonstrator.

“Further,” the city’s letter said, “it appears the federal government is engaging in prohibited viewpoint discrimination by targeting demonstrators based on the content of their speech, while favoring those with whom the federal government agrees. For example, it appears the federal government is providing special access to the ICE facility for social media ‘influencers’ who favor the federal administration, while targeting with force those who use social media to document the conduct of the federal government.”

Taylor sent the letter in response to an investigation launched by the Trump administration after Portland Police arrested a right-wing media figure, Nick Sortor, last week on charges of disorderly conduct near the ICE facility. A Multnomah County prosecutor later dropped the charges after finding Sortor—though he was being provocative—was ultimately acting in self-defense amid the scrum that led to his arrest, The Oregonian reported.

But by that time Trump administration officials had moved to condemn the arrest.

“We will not leave the people of Portland at the whims of criminals and woke cops,” wrote Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, on the social media platform X. “Govern yourselves accordingly!”

Citing that arrest and other alleged incidents in a letter to the city last weekend, Justice Department civil rights division officials questioned whether the Portland Police Bureau was engaging in viewpoint discrimination against conservatives. The feds sought several documents from the city to aid in the investigation.

In the response letter Monday, Portland officials say it is the Trump administration that is acting unfairly—and at times violently—targeting those it disagrees with.

“If the Civil Rights Division is concerned about the Constitution, the Civil Rights Division should ensure that all people—even those with whom the administration disagrees—receive the equal protection of the First and Fourth Amendments,” the city attorney wrote. “At present, it appears the Civil Rights Division is failing that solemn duty in Portland and elsewhere in America.”