A great interview with James Klug, a reporter on the ground in Portland, Oregon. We discuss all things Antifa, the situation on the street, and the federal government's involvement in the situation. We also discuss the recent arrest of Nick Sorter.
00:02:46.600You know, so he didn't even, he didn't even quite defend himself.
00:02:49.240It's not like he, like, jumped into a fight or anything.
00:02:51.040But we're seeing that kind of trend over the last couple days as well.
00:02:54.800You'll see, you know, it's people acting.
00:02:58.300They get to take over a certain part of the street.
00:02:59.900If you enter that part of their street, right, if you enter that public property that they've, I guess, claimed, they'll start basically attacking you.
00:03:09.360So the people that are fighting back on that, you'll get a few individuals that might go in there or something.
00:03:16.360Basically, the people that are getting arrested have been conservative.
00:03:19.160I think there's been a couple of Antifa members that just, like, outside of the detention facility have been arrested as well.
00:03:26.080But it's, I don't know, it seems as though it's a little bit more one-sided.
00:03:30.840And that would be more around, like, Portland Police Department, which is, you know, there's a different story when it comes to the federal property.
00:03:38.080Portland Police Department has definitely had a hands-off approach when it comes to Antifa and the other left-wing groups that are there.
00:03:45.180Yeah, I mean, because I keep seeing these videos of Antifa openly agitating right in front of police.
00:03:51.380And then you pair that with the reports we're seeing where, like, the feds tried to board up the building and then they got issued a code violation by the Portland, you know, city council.
00:03:59.920And so you're seeing these types of things.
00:04:01.280And I don't know, are you seeing much, I don't know if collaboration is the right word, but are you seeing much, like, coordination between the police and Antifa?
00:04:08.140Because there seems to be some sort of understanding that those two groups have come to.
00:04:13.000Yeah, I mean, I think the overall approach has just been let them essentially do whatever they want.
00:04:20.100And, look, I mean, for them that's really great because then they just get to take over blocks and harass federal agents all day and all that stuff.
00:04:28.020So, you know, I don't know if I see so much.
00:04:31.240Yeah, I've only been in town for a couple days, but for the most part, just across the board, it's obviously a hands-off approach when it comes to the Antifa militants outside, right?
00:05:13.360And, you know, I think at a certain point you're looking at that saying, well, the police department's not representing those people that have a problem with it, right?
00:05:19.840Thousands of letters sent to the city.
00:05:22.220They're not representing those people, but they are representing and protecting the people that are causing the chaos.
00:05:27.120And the interesting part about that, too, is I was doing a bunch of interviews this weekend, which, for some reason, these people are doing interviews outside of the ICE facility.
00:05:43.680But I was interviewing a lot of these people, and, you know, they were blaming all of that on ICE or maybe the Republicans, you know, because there's so many in Portland, instead of blaming their demonstrations and riots that were driving companies and schools out of town and causing the chaos.
00:06:03.660Dude, I mean, at a certain point, because you're seeing these videos, like, Nick Sorter had a video up of, like, a Portland resident.
00:06:12.580And by all accounts, I mean, just going off the numbers, likely they're a Democrat, likely they're a Kamala voter.
00:06:18.780And you see them driving through, and they're clearly agitated with the Antifa, you know, basically functioning as traffic guards.
00:06:24.800So clearly there's a frustration there.
00:06:53.740So, like, you will get locals that have a problem with it and stuff.
00:06:57.020But for the most part, a lot of this stuff – I mean, the reason why you're seeing this hands-off approach when it comes to these militants that are causing this chaos, right?
00:07:03.280The reason why you're seeing this is because the people in the city agree with it.
00:07:09.040And I feel really bad for the people that don't because, you know, they're just kind of getting abused.
00:07:14.180But a lot of people in the city, a lot of people around town, even people in the apartment complex right across from the ICE facility, like, they're, like, participating.
00:07:22.620And I would imagine the others are just remaining silent and hoping it stops one day.
00:07:26.160I mean, I don't know what's going on there.
00:07:28.900When it comes to the – a lot of it has to do with, though, is a lot of people don't really understand, like, the purpose for, let's say, okay, well, like, they're not understanding why National Guard would have to be there.
00:07:41.700Because there are certain moments where – and I don't want to say, like, oh, the sky is falling and it's chaos all day long.
00:08:12.780But when it comes down to the National Guard and the need for the National Guard, during my interviews, kind of one of the conclusions that – one of the things that appeared more obvious was that you do not need, like, 100 federal agents from – maybe they're ICE agents or whatever they are.
00:08:32.380You don't need those people there to do crowd control.
00:08:36.600And when federal vehicles are coming through, you're not really supposed to have federal agents tied up there, like, creating a barrier so people don't jump on somebody's hood when they're entering or leaving the facility.
00:08:48.580And so to alleviate those people, they were saying, okay, you bring in National Guard to assist that stuff, right?
00:09:25.120I mean, that's what's so bizarre is when you see the videos, yeah, like, the truck rolling through.
00:09:28.900It's, like, just a motley crew of three-letter agencies that are around just trying to, like, ensure people don't throw themselves under the trucks.
00:09:35.060Dude, yeah, they're, like, dealing with what they got, you know.
00:09:37.480So – and sometimes the crowd's more aggressive.
00:09:40.840And so, you know, I'm sure you've seen the footage, whereas you have people outside that – I mean, dude, I watched some people full-on shoving federal agents and the agents just putting up with it.
00:09:56.200There's – I think different agencies have a little bit less tolerance.
00:09:59.720You'll see ICE will probably be quicker to make an arrest if somebody assaults them where other agents are going to be, like, okay, you know, letting the leftists blow off some steam.
00:10:10.840But, yeah, I saw a chick yesterday that was full-on shoving them, putting all of her weight into the federal agents.
00:10:16.760And it's just, like, I don't – they're getting this confidence, I think, from dealing with Portland PD that lets them do everything.
00:10:24.660Like, it's essentially at the point where they could spit in the face of a Portland police officer and they're not going to do anything.
00:10:29.400And if they do anything – if they do do anything, they'll be in jail, in process.
00:10:35.020They'll be in there for one hour and release the next day.
00:10:37.560And so I think that kind of confidence is moving over to federal agents and how they deal with federal agents, Antifa, these other groups, except for the consequences are potentially much more serious.
00:10:51.980And I think that's actually breaking down a lot of, you know, how bold they are as well.
00:10:55.800I think there are – you know, at times it will be a smaller group of people.
00:11:01.440I just – I do think that them dealing with federal agents has calmed them down because they do know that the consequences are there when it comes to dealing with the federal government.
00:11:12.120Yeah, I mean, because you're seeing – like, you saw it in Minneapolis where they throw around these federal agents and they kind of just take it on the chin because they don't really have – it seems like they just don't have the resources to make arrests, like, right then and there.
00:11:27.120And so I'm wondering in Portland if once, if, or when the National Guard arrives, then you'll really start to see them just sweeping through and not tolerating – you know, you look the wrong way, you'll get put in cuffs.
00:11:36.080But, I mean, I don't know if you've seen that, yeah.
00:11:43.740You know, I just – the main takeaway for sure is definitely allowing the federal agents to go out and actually do their jobs, which is not doing crowd control outside of an ICE detention facility.
00:11:56.880Yeah, it's – this is the importance of making – I think Portland would be a good case to make an example out of because now we're seeing the same situation happen.
00:12:07.980You got a little bit of in D.C., but D.C. was obviously different because it's a federal district, so they could go all in right away.
00:12:14.000But Portland, since they've just been so unruly for so long, this feels like this is where, if you're the Trump administration, to make an example out of a city and go for the full crackdown.
00:12:24.220I mean, because – I mean, you've been around the block for a while.
00:12:26.300You've seen Portland has been like this for a very long time.
00:12:31.480Yeah, and I think that's what their goal – it doesn't seem as though the event.
00:12:36.080It doesn't seem as though the administration is backing down when it comes to this.
00:12:38.140You know, you can't just allow, like, leftist militants to take over blocks of cities.
00:12:42.000And, oh, you know, that's all we're going to do.
00:12:44.060We're going to allow for our cities to just be – you know, have some sort of, like, chaos governance in one of our, you know, major cities.
00:12:51.560I don't think they're looking to allow that, and I don't think they should either.
00:12:56.300And there's a lot of people – you know, a lot of the people that agree with sending in the National Guard or maybe even – maybe they even disagree with that, but they just want this freaking chaos to stop.
00:13:06.400I feel bad for a lot of those people because there are a lot of those people in Portland or in the surrounding areas.
00:13:11.520And, you know, hey, maybe they go into town for that storage facility next to the ICE detention facility or maybe their kids went to that elementary school.
00:13:21.020I mean, these are taxpayers being affected, and I feel often for those people.
00:13:23.840So just for those people alone, they should 100% set an example.
00:13:28.780The administration should use this as an opportunity to set an example for sure.
00:13:33.580Yeah, I mean, because that's – I think people don't think about – a lot of people on the right have this tendency to kind of have this, well, just let them have it because they voted for this kind of mentality.
00:13:41.560But people always miss the fact that all these suburbs – I mean, you're kind of talking about the city proper, but then the metro area.
00:13:46.440The metro area is dependent on the city itself.
00:13:49.180So, like, with New York City, okay, yeah, you let Zoran take over, and he runs it in the ground, and it's like, okay, well, that's what they voted for.
00:13:55.840It's like, yeah, but there's 33 million people in the area, many of which are Republicans, who are dependent on that city.
00:14:01.900So if that city goes down, the area goes down.
00:14:28.200So especially that New York – when people bring up that New York City example, I think that's probably the most insane thing ever because, yes, those – you know, that is our major city, right, when it comes to New York City.
00:14:39.280And surrendering something like that has massive, massive impacts.
00:14:42.920But I think just even if Portland was a smaller town, it doesn't matter how big, how small the city is, you know, you don't need to bend a knee to what are essentially domestic terrorists.
00:14:53.000Yeah, I mean, with that, I kind of want to ask is, you know, Antifa probably knows that the hammer is coming down now.
00:15:06.340Are they still trying to intimidate conservative journalists?
00:15:09.280I mean, like, what is the – what's the game plan as far as you can tell for Antifa?
00:15:13.880Okay, so I actually was asking a lot of them that question because, you know, they were talking to me, which, again, I was surprised about.
00:15:24.960And you don't get too much of a clear answer.
00:15:28.340You know, I think a lot of them really enjoy this.
00:15:30.380A lot of these people that are outside, the ones that are camping especially, they're homeless.
00:15:35.460And that's how it's been for a long time in places like Portland where you'll get the most aggressive activists are living on the street.
00:15:45.560And so, you know, if you talk to them, essentially they'll say, oh, well, our goal is to run them out of town.
00:15:51.040And we're going to be here until they leave town.
00:15:54.160Like, okay, you're not going to – you know, they're not going to stop ICE from doing their jobs.
00:15:58.540They're not going to get them out of town.
00:16:01.340So the goals seem a little bit unrealistic, obviously.
00:16:05.300But as for where I think – if I think it's going to build or if it's going to dwindle, I think their most aggressive activists have been receiving significant charges.
00:16:20.860And you can only keep that up for so long.
00:16:24.280Like they're not dealing – a lot of the ones that thought they were dealing with Portland Police Department, they learned quickly that they're not.
00:16:31.620And you're going to run out of those militants and those activists.
00:16:34.240And so I don't know if it's going to keep growing or if it's going to kind of dwindle away.
00:16:37.880But if I were to guess, the Trump administration doesn't appear to be backing down on this.
00:16:43.240And, you know, maybe it will make it to 200 days straight.
00:16:47.200But we have – keep in mind, we have winter coming up.
00:16:49.260And a lot of these people are fair-weather protesters and activists.
00:16:52.560And so that's going to probably die out.
00:16:56.640But I think they'll probably start to run out of soldiers and people won't enjoy federal charges.
00:17:02.260So, yeah, I don't know if it's going to be lasting.
00:17:05.260Certainly their mission of getting the ICE detention facility out of town is not going to be successful.
00:17:11.160Yeah, I mean, it seems like a lot of them invoke the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta.
00:17:18.380But all that resulted out of that was the state of Georgia just using legislation – like a brand-new slate of legislation to crack down on them for that.
00:17:26.200And then this is obviously a different situation now with the feds in charge.
00:17:36.100I mean, like, so much of it is also LARPing as well.
00:17:39.580Like, yes, there are serious activists.
00:17:41.360But, dude, so much of it is just a LARP where, you know, you can tell when they come out of the ICE facility after they've been processed and they're all getting clapped for.
00:17:52.020You know, they know they're getting eco-focused with all their Antifa friends that are clapping and cheering for them.
00:17:58.160And a lot of them – I don't know what's going on here, but there's, like, 20% of them are handicapped.
00:18:05.240Except for when you look away, they'll, like, get out of the wheelchair and start walking around.
00:18:09.240I don't really know what's going on there.
00:18:11.340But I do know that when it comes down to it, you know, they're kind of, like, playing a game as well.
00:18:17.220Again, the only unfortunate part for them is the consequences when you're dealing with federal agents is it's a different ballgame.
00:18:23.300And so they're definitely figuring that out.
00:18:25.420But a lot of it is a live-action roleplay where they feel like they're maybe playing – I don't want to say Dungeons & Dragons because that's actually kind of cool.
00:18:33.700But something much more – much weirder.
00:18:37.620And, yeah, it's – they genuinely think, though, for sure, that ICE agents, you know, this is a Nazi administration.
00:19:34.660But at the same time, you know, like I said, there do become moments where it gets more serious, where they are assaulting conservative journalists.
00:19:42.780They are taking over parts of public property.
00:19:46.120They are running businesses out of town.
00:19:47.940So, yes, while there's a whole part of it that's a joke and you control them and that's funny, there are serious consequences as well.
00:19:54.000And, you know, Portland PDs certainly protecting them but not representing the rest of the people that don't want a bunch of psychopaths taking over the street, you know, or an entire block.
00:20:07.860Like they view everything like a Marvel movie where everything is just like clips and LARPs and that sort of thing.
00:20:13.460But then on the flip side, it's also they have nothing to lose.
00:20:16.980So you have those like two elements where it's like they think they're in a Marvel movie and they're LARPing and then they have nothing to lose and they, you know, think they're fighting fascism or whatever.
00:20:25.040So that recipe, you just get a bunch of unhinged people that are willing to do anything that are going to snap at any moment.
00:20:31.820And that's like absolutely petrifying to see.
00:20:34.320Dude, like the shortest views you've ever seen.
00:20:36.780And that's where I honestly, I was talking about this yesterday.
00:20:39.860I think that they're pretty lucky that their opposition is so intolerant because, you know, it's just the shortest views ever.
00:20:50.100That video yesterday from last night of Nick's order walking through the encampment.
00:20:55.980And look, like, actually, that's what all the local news stations should be doing.
00:21:41.980When it comes to them having nothing to lose, those are the people that are pretty dangerous.
00:21:44.840Because they don't care what they do to you.
00:21:47.780They don't care if they really go to prison or anything.
00:21:49.880And so you've got to watch out for those people for sure.
00:21:52.560And, you know, I think it's varying degrees of militants, right?
00:21:56.140And as I mentioned earlier, the ones that are certainly more aggressive and have been more violent, especially with, like, the police department over the last five years, right?
00:22:04.920Those ones are finding out that you can't do that with federal agents.
00:22:08.720But there's also other ones that are, you know, homeless.
00:22:54.320I don't know if you saw, like, literally two, three hours ago, Brandon Johnson was like, the right is asking for a civil war.
00:22:59.940This is like a repeat of, you know, of 1860.
00:23:04.180He was invoking some very, very strong language, basically blaming MAGA and saying they wanted to start a civil war.
00:23:11.500Obviously, Oregon's dealing with the same thing Illinois is dealing with, which is the federal government, you know, doing their job.
00:23:18.100How do you think this relationship between particularly Oregon, but even Illinois, with these state governments and the federal government, which direction do you think this is going to go?
00:23:26.780Are they going to cry uncle or are they going to continue to fight this?
00:23:35.060I mean, I think that goes back to your previous point of there needs to be an example set because they can't all say, you know, if you give them an inch, they're going to take a mile, right?
00:23:42.980So you give Portland the victory, then everybody else is going to fall asleep.
00:24:01.060And yeah, if you're going to have a riot outside of a detention facility every single day or every single weekend, it's absolutely okay to be sending National Guard to go make sure that our federal troops or federal agents, I mean, are protected and are able to do their jobs without, you know, getting murdered.
00:24:18.080Like that just, that's okay to be doing.
00:24:20.560And so I think, I think going back to my previous point of winter is coming up.
00:24:25.480A lot of these people are fair weather protesters and rioters that'll probably die out.
00:24:30.020And I don't know, you know, it's kind of hard to tell what the future holds.
00:24:33.740One thing I will say for certain is the Trump administration is 100% not backing down.
00:24:38.780They're taking this very seriously just from what I've seen, especially after Nick Sorter.
00:24:44.320You know, apparently Trump was reaching out to Nick Sorter after him being assaulted.
00:24:47.700Like, yeah, we're not going to put up with that, you know, we're not going to put up with American journalists getting assaulted for simply doing their jobs just because these people, you know, can't handle somebody filming them and committing crimes.
00:25:04.240But as for what's going on in Chicago, I'm going to go over to Chicago probably this week to go check it out.
00:25:10.420And hopefully, like this weekend, we'll go over there to kind of see what's going on on the ground over there.
00:25:16.960But I think across the board, a lot of these things go in waves where, hey, there'll be mellow, a bunch of those violent people.
00:25:25.360Maybe they committed a maybe they, you know, committed a crime and they go away for a bit or they're getting slapped.
00:25:31.360You know, they're slapping federal charges on these people, assaulting federal agents.
00:25:35.460And I think after that, you know, after you start to see a little bit more of those charges, I think it probably will die down a little bit.
00:25:44.620Again, it's hard to say what's going to be coming in the future.
00:25:47.160But for the most part, I think, yeah, again, over in Chicago, you get those psychos.
00:25:52.940And after that, after some of those people are made an example out of, you'll probably end up with less brave individuals outside of these facilities protesting, if I were to guess.
00:26:07.320I mean, with the rhetoric and then now with the actions, the court rulings on the National Guard appointments, like this is going to be a crazy week.
00:26:13.860So, I mean, where can people find you?
00:26:16.280Or, yeah, I mean, any final thoughts, too?
00:26:18.800I was just going to say, I mean, what we really do not want is we really do not want this rhetoric to continue where more ICE agents are being assaulted or even, you know, people are taking this into their own hands and trying to attack or murder federal agents.
00:26:36.700That's where we do not want this to be going.
00:26:38.820And so I'm hoping, I think most of us, right, are hoping that this is able to, you know, they're able to get those psychos off the street that are actually out there rioting out front of these facilities, get those people off the street before they do something more dangerous.