October 7, 2025 • 8 mins
NewsNation National Correspondent Nancy Loo reports from Portland, where flash bangs, tear gas, and multiple arrests erupted as tensions escalated during ICE operations. She details what led to the unrest, how federal and local authorities are responding, and what’s next for the city as protests intensify.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Go to the hotline and bring in News Nation national
correspondent Nancy Lou coming to us live from Portland. You
can watch her on NewsNation. You can find her reporting
at newsnationnow dot com, and you can follow her on
x for more at Nancy Lou. Nancy, thank you so
much for taking a few minutes to come on the
show to talk about these clashes between protesters and federal agents.
(00:20):
Let's set the scene first for those of us who
aren't there. We've seen reports that these incidents are limited
to a small area, the President saying the city's more ravaged.
What have you seen.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah. The President has also said Portland is on fire.
I can't say that I've seen any flames in the
last week, but I am outside the Portland Ice facility
right now. It is quiet. It's been about a dozen
anti ice protesters who are outside holding signs, playing music,
(00:54):
But the drill has been uncertainty after dark, and that's
when you know you will see Antifa people in black
block coming out and stirring up trouble. But for the
most part, it is very peaceful during the day, and
(01:15):
whenever a car comes or goes from the ice facility,
there is a drill with federal officers coming out to
form a line to let the people are, let vehicles
come and go, and then there are often protesters who
will try and push through, and they make it very
clear that if you cross the line, you're on federal property,
(01:39):
you are trespassing. And that's when we see skirmishes, that's
when we see tear gass and pepper balls. And over
the weekend we saw quite a few rounds of tear
gas and pepper balls, which are no fun Ryan, but yeah,
there was a lot of gas dispersed on Saturday. Sunday
(02:01):
fairly quiet, but all weekend long there was the anticipation
that the National Guard was coming. The National Guard was coming.
But Saturday we had that temporary restraining order which barred
the use of the Oregon National Guard, which had already
been mobilized two hundred Guard troops. And when that came down,
(02:24):
the Trump administration moved to mobilize the federal troops out
of California. And then on Sunday we had another temporary
restraining order barring the use of any National Guard troops
from any state from taking to the streets of Portland.
So it's kind of a wait and see right now
(02:47):
of what's going to happen here outside the ice facility.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We're joined by News Nation national correspondent Nancy lou com
into his life from Portland. So where this is all happening.
Is this a relatively small part of the city. Are
there other protests and clashes with federal agents happening around Portland?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
People who know Portland, Oregon know that it is one
hundred and forty five square miles. The unrest is limited
to a block or two around the Ice building, which
is in the south part of the city. And you know,
spending time out here, it's been interesting to see a
(03:32):
lot of Portlanders coming by, driving by, you know, facetiously saying, oh,
I'm here to see the war zone, and you know,
and of course, you know, typically during the daytime hours
it's you know, fairly uneventful outside the building. It's during
the nighttime hours when things get very spicy at the building.
(03:56):
But yes, it is a very limited area in Portland
where the unrest has been happening, and it has been
happening for over one hundred days. And it's important to
also note that there are you know, thousands of residents
who live near this ice building, and many have expressed
to me that, you know, they're tired of all this protesting.
(04:19):
They're tired of the unpredictable clashes in their neighborhood which
shuts down streets sometimes making it hard for them to get.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
To their homes.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And there have been a number of residents who say,
bring in the guard, bring an end to this. Another
note is that there's an elementary school right next to
the ice building. That elementary school had to relocate all
of the students started school at another location because there's
(04:50):
so much tear gas residue in the building that is
unsafe for the staff and the children. And there's also
tear gas residue all over the playground and you know,
remnants of munitions in the playground. So you know that's
the flip side and the you know, the fallout from
(05:10):
this situation in South Portland.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
One last question for you, for those of us observing
this from AFAR, I know one thing we're all wondering,
who are these protesters. Who are these people who are
part of ANTIFO. We're showing up at night looking to
cause trouble. Have you gotten any answers to that? Have
you talked to any of the people that are there yet.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I mean, it's ambiguous. It's hard to nail down you
know who these people are. But often we see people
showing up in character costumes and you know, you cannot
see their faces. And the word is that you know,
ICE is using facial recognition cameras on the building. And
there are known activists in Oregon, in Washington that have
(05:59):
descended on this building. And again it's at night when
trouble seems to stir up, and you do see people
coming dressed in all black, faces covered and you do
not know you know, is that you know who are
you and why are you here? And according you know,
the Trump administration says that these are insurgents, these are
(06:23):
these are domestic terrorists, and as you know, the Trump
administration recently ruled that Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
There was also a report that there are some social
media influencers who have been there broadcasting events. Have you
seen any of that?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, And you know we've had you know, podcasters and
different independent journalists who have been here. Yes, they are
here broadcasting. The conservative influencer, very well known Nick Storter.
He was actually arrested last week while scuffling with some
(07:03):
of the anti ice demonstrators out here. The charges against him.
He was arrested by Portland police and that triggered the
DOJ from investigating the Portland Police for arresting him. He
had put out a fire, an American flag that was
set on fire, and he was really going to police
(07:27):
to tell about you know, people who were coming after him,
and he was arrested and that's why the DOJ launched
a investigation of the Portland Police Bureau. So that is another,
you know, player of everything that's been happening here. But
the charges against Nick s Order have been dropped and
(07:49):
he even got a call from President Trump saying that
he was unfairly treated. So yeah, multiple layers of activity
here in Portland.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
News Nation national correspondent Nancy Lou coming to us live
from Portland. You can check out all of her reporting
on this and a whole lot more on NewsNation at
newsnationnow dot com and on x You can follow her
at Nancylou. Nancy, thank you so much for the update
and stay safe out there.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Thank you for having me Ryan The Ryan
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Gorman Show five to nine every weekday morning on News
Radio two UFLA
Go to the hotline and bring in News Nation national
correspondent Nancy Lou coming to us live from Portland. You
can watch her on NewsNation. You can find her reporting
at newsnationnow dot com, and you can follow her on
x for more at Nancy Lou. Nancy, thank you so
much for taking a few minutes to come on the
show to talk about these clashes between protesters and federal agents.
(00:20):
Let's set the scene first for those of us who
aren't there. We've seen reports that these incidents are limited
to a small area, the President saying the city's more ravaged.
What have you seen.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah. The President has also said Portland is on fire.
I can't say that I've seen any flames in the
last week, but I am outside the Portland Ice facility
right now. It is quiet. It's been about a dozen
anti ice protesters who are outside holding signs, playing music,
(00:54):
But the drill has been uncertainty after dark, and that's
when you know you will see Antifa people in black
block coming out and stirring up trouble. But for the
most part, it is very peaceful during the day, and
(01:15):
whenever a car comes or goes from the ice facility,
there is a drill with federal officers coming out to
form a line to let the people are, let vehicles
come and go, and then there are often protesters who
will try and push through, and they make it very
clear that if you cross the line, you're on federal property,
(01:39):
you are trespassing. And that's when we see skirmishes, that's
when we see tear gass and pepper balls. And over
the weekend we saw quite a few rounds of tear
gas and pepper balls, which are no fun Ryan, but yeah,
there was a lot of gas dispersed on Saturday. Sunday
(02:01):
fairly quiet, but all weekend long there was the anticipation
that the National Guard was coming. The National Guard was coming.
But Saturday we had that temporary restraining order which barred
the use of the Oregon National Guard, which had already
been mobilized two hundred Guard troops. And when that came down,
(02:24):
the Trump administration moved to mobilize the federal troops out
of California. And then on Sunday we had another temporary
restraining order barring the use of any National Guard troops
from any state from taking to the streets of Portland.
So it's kind of a wait and see right now
(02:47):
of what's going to happen here outside the ice facility.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We're joined by News Nation national correspondent Nancy lou com
into his life from Portland. So where this is all happening.
Is this a relatively small part of the city. Are
there other protests and clashes with federal agents happening around Portland?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
People who know Portland, Oregon know that it is one
hundred and forty five square miles. The unrest is limited
to a block or two around the Ice building, which
is in the south part of the city. And you know,
spending time out here, it's been interesting to see a
(03:32):
lot of Portlanders coming by, driving by, you know, facetiously saying, oh,
I'm here to see the war zone, and you know,
and of course, you know, typically during the daytime hours
it's you know, fairly uneventful outside the building. It's during
the nighttime hours when things get very spicy at the building.
(03:56):
But yes, it is a very limited area in Portland
where the unrest has been happening, and it has been
happening for over one hundred days. And it's important to
also note that there are you know, thousands of residents
who live near this ice building, and many have expressed
to me that, you know, they're tired of all this protesting.
(04:19):
They're tired of the unpredictable clashes in their neighborhood which
shuts down streets sometimes making it hard for them to get.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
To their homes.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And there have been a number of residents who say,
bring in the guard, bring an end to this. Another
note is that there's an elementary school right next to
the ice building. That elementary school had to relocate all
of the students started school at another location because there's
(04:50):
so much tear gas residue in the building that is
unsafe for the staff and the children. And there's also
tear gas residue all over the playground and you know,
remnants of munitions in the playground. So you know that's
the flip side and the you know, the fallout from
(05:10):
this situation in South Portland.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
One last question for you, for those of us observing
this from AFAR, I know one thing we're all wondering,
who are these protesters. Who are these people who are
part of ANTIFO. We're showing up at night looking to
cause trouble. Have you gotten any answers to that? Have
you talked to any of the people that are there yet.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I mean, it's ambiguous. It's hard to nail down you
know who these people are. But often we see people
showing up in character costumes and you know, you cannot
see their faces. And the word is that you know,
ICE is using facial recognition cameras on the building. And
there are known activists in Oregon, in Washington that have
(05:59):
descended on this building. And again it's at night when
trouble seems to stir up, and you do see people
coming dressed in all black, faces covered and you do
not know you know, is that you know who are
you and why are you here? And according you know,
the Trump administration says that these are insurgents, these are
(06:23):
these are domestic terrorists, and as you know, the Trump
administration recently ruled that Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
There was also a report that there are some social
media influencers who have been there broadcasting events. Have you
seen any of that?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, And you know we've had you know, podcasters and
different independent journalists who have been here. Yes, they are
here broadcasting. The conservative influencer, very well known Nick Storter.
He was actually arrested last week while scuffling with some
(07:03):
of the anti ice demonstrators out here. The charges against him.
He was arrested by Portland police and that triggered the
DOJ from investigating the Portland Police for arresting him. He
had put out a fire, an American flag that was
set on fire, and he was really going to police
(07:27):
to tell about you know, people who were coming after him,
and he was arrested and that's why the DOJ launched
a investigation of the Portland Police Bureau. So that is another,
you know, player of everything that's been happening here. But
the charges against Nick s Order have been dropped and
(07:49):
he even got a call from President Trump saying that
he was unfairly treated. So yeah, multiple layers of activity
here in Portland.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
News Nation national correspondent Nancy Lou coming to us live
from Portland. You can check out all of her reporting
on this and a whole lot more on NewsNation at
newsnationnow dot com and on x You can follow her
at Nancylou. Nancy, thank you so much for the update
and stay safe out there.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Thank you for having me Ryan The Ryan
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Gorman Show five to nine every weekday morning on News
Radio two UFLA
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