The New York Times desperately tried several times to downplay the left-wing political unrest and violence in Portland, Oregon generated by the domestic terrorists of Antifa, passing the blame to "right-wing influencers" instead.
First it was the paper’s benighted columnist Nicholas Kristof, perennially optimistic about the relative harmlessness of the regime of Saddam Hussein and public support for radical Islam, embarrassing himself on X with a sarcastic video post from “the perilous front lines” of Portland – a post taken on a leafy sidewalk in broad daylight, a two-mile walk from the protest action currently around the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Portland in protest of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
On Saturday the Times argued the threat of Antifa was a right-wing conspiracy theory spurred by social media influencers, in “How Right-Wing Influencers Are Shaping the Guard Fight in Portland,” reported by Anna Griffin and Aaron West.
In the fight over deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Ore., Democratic leaders in the city and state have pleaded with President Trump and the courts to trust law enforcement records, both local and federal, that describe the demonstrations as small and comparatively calm.
But in the bifurcated media world of 2025, one side’s comparative calm is the other’s “hellscape” — as the White House described Portland on Wednesday — and the narrative that the Trump administration has wanted has been supplied by a coterie of right-wing influencers elevated by Mr. Trump himself.
The next paragraph accused demonstrators of bad behavior "that has been captured, amplified and sometimes even prompted by pro-Trump personalities eager to counter local police."
Griffin and West strove to blame the right for the left’s violence.
To some extent, the right’s assertions of chaos in Oregon have been self-fulfilling....The portrayals of a city on fire have angered protesters.
And sometimes, left-wing activists have risen to the bait, leading to scuffles and injuries conservative streamers then promote on the internet. One right-wing commentator, Katie Daviscourt, said she received a black eye when a demonstrator hit her with a flag pole.
The paper set the moral bar low for the Antifa lefties, who are apparently not responsible for their own actions, easily prodded into violence by cynical right-wing influencers.
Pro-Trump provocateurs have gotten more open about their efforts as the stakes in the battle over how to police protests grow….
Meantime, influencers are seeking to raise the tension. Matt Tardio, a right-wing streamer who was broadcasting to an online audience of 10,000 or so from the ICE building in Portland on Wednesday night, conceded that other streamers were trying to stir up trouble so they could capture it on video.
The truth about the assault on (and shocking arrest of) independent journalist Nick Sortor emerged in reluctant little spurts.
Mr. Sortor was initially charged with second-degree disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor in Oregon, after he took a burning American flag from a left-wing demonstrator and a fight ensued. The response from Washington, D.C., was intense and immediate. Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded an investigation into the Portland Police Bureau, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Mr. Sortor had been “ambushed by antifa.”
For his efforts, Mr. Sortor found himself at the White House on Wednesday, as the president praised the actions of right-wing activists and pledged to dismantle antifa, a loose-knit group of anarchists whose presence in Portland has long angered Mr. Trump.
....
Nathan Vasquez, the district attorney of Multnomah County, which includes parts of Portland, dropped the charges against Mr. Sortor but planned to take two left-wing demonstrators he scuffled with to trial. Mr. Vasquez said police did have probable cause to arrest Mr. Sortor.
The influencer was engaged in “what I think most people would consider antagonistic behavior,” Mr. Vasquez said. “The hard part is that obnoxious behavior doesn’t amount to you getting to punch him in the face.”
Indeed, independent journalists like Andy Ngo have been assaulted many times while covering Antifa’s long siege of Portland and the resulting violence have received no support from journalistic organizations ostensibly set up to protect journalists from violence.
