A right-wing social media influencer with close ties to the Trump administration is facing intense scrutiny for his role in what critics describe as escalating tensions and violence during protests in Minneapolis. Nick Sortor, who boasts 1.2 million followers on X, has been accused of producing inflammatory content that feeds directly into the forceful actions of federal immigration agents.
From Portland to the White House: Sortor's Rise
Sortor's relationship with the administration was cemented after his arrest in Portland, Oregon, in October 2025. He was briefly detained on suspicion of disorderly conduct after grabbing a burning American flag from a protester and later engaging in physical altercations. Multnomah County prosecutors declined to press charges.
In the hours following his release, Sortor reportedly received a message of support from former President Donald Trump via a White House aide, stating, "Great job. We're behind you 100%." The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, publicly defended him, criticising the Portland police. Subsequently, the Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, threatened an investigation into the police bureau's handling of the arrest.
Days later, Sortor was a participant in a Trump-convened roundtable on "antifa" at the White House, where he flourished the flag recovered in Portland.
Minneapolis Mission: Cheerleading and Confrontation
Sortor travelled to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in late December 2025, following other influencers and an influx of federal border agents. His activities there have been characterised by partisan cheerleading and celebrations of violence directed at protesters.
His social media output included:
- Standing outside the home of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a plush pickle.
- Publishing video that led to a Hilton hotel losing its franchise for refusing to book Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents.
- Celebrating instances where ICE officers pepper-sprayed protesters, with posts captioned "LMAO!" and "KEEP PUSHING, ICE! PATRIOTS HAVE YOUR BACKS."
- Repeatedly calling for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops to American cities.
Sortor was also in Minneapolis when ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed protester Renee Good. In response, he posted, "Liberal white women have been radicalized to TERRORIZE ICE." His commentary was amplified by Fox News, which treated him as an on-the-ground authority, and by Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff.
A Contentious Incident and a Symbiotic Relationship
Sortor recently posted a video claiming "anti-ICE rioters" surrounded his vehicle, smashed his windows, and attempted to kill him and fellow influencer Cam Higby. He appeared to admit to driving at the crowd, stating he had "no choice." This narrative was widely circulated on right-wing platforms and Fox News.
However, Andrew Mercado of Mercado Media offered a conflicting account, alleging Sortor first hit a female protester and that protesters were trying to block him from leaving until police arrived. Mercado's footage showed Sortor accelerating towards protesters in front of his car.
Experts describe Sortor's relationship with the Trump administration as "symbiotic." Arne Holverscheid, a political science researcher at Northwestern University, notes it allows for "plausible deniability" for politicians while helping to shift the Overton window. Jeff Tischauser, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, argues the goal of such influencers is to create content that "falsely label their perceived enemies as domestic terrorists" to drum up support within Trump's base.
A Criminal Past and Platform Politics
The administration's support for Sortor persists despite his criminal record in his native Kentucky. He has been charged twice and convicted once for driving under the influence, arrested for menacing a police officer, and pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in a 2020 incident. He was sentenced to probation in January 2022 but absconded by June 2023, leading to a warrant for his arrest. Kentucky's corrections department still lists him as an absconded offender.
Sortor's rise coincided with Elon Musk's ownership of X, which critics say tilted the platform's algorithm to favour right-wing accounts. His early coverage of the East Palestine derailment and Maui wildfires, framed as failures of the Biden administration, garnered attention. A month before the 2024 election, he received a personal letter from Trump thanking him as a "social media warrior."
The Guardian emailed Sortor for comment on this reporting at the address listed on his X account but received no response by the deadline.
