A freelance journalist who said she was assaulted by a masked “Antifa-affiliated protester” reportedly appeared on Fox News on Wednesday with a swollen black eye and a blunt appeal to federal authorities: treat the group “like ISIS,” she said, and end what she described as an atmosphere of lawlessness in the city.
Katie Daviscourt, who has reported from Portland for months, told Jesse Watters that the violence she faces is now routine. “Oh yeah, I definitely have a black eye,” she said, recounting an encounter in which, she said, a protester swung a flag pole at her face. “That’s what it’s been like covering Portland for the past four months. Complete lawlessness.”
Her description was stark: she said that “several blocks” of the city are “completely controlled by Antifa-affiliated protesters who harass, assault, and threaten anyone who they perceive to be a threat to their cause, including journalists, local residents, and ICE agents,” and that local police have largely “refused to maintain law and order in the area.”
Daviscourt recounted to Watters a desperate attempt to get police to act after the assault. “Last night, I got assaulted and I immediately ran to a Portland Police officer, hunted down the suspect, chased her through the streets and said, ‘This is my assault suspect, can you guys finally do something?’ and I had eyes on her for about 35 minutes — Portland Police refused to come in and make an arrest and I had three officers just standing there, watching me try to hunt down the suspect,” she said. She added that hours later Portland police issued a bulletin seeking the public’s help to identify the same person.
Portland Police disputed that account in a press release.
Daviscourt also described the blow itself in an interview with Real America’s Voice host Jack Posobiec, saying the attacker “started approaching me and waving a flag pole in my face, and then I kind of turn around and that’s when she swung it like a baseball bat and directly hit my eye.” Posobiec observed, “So she was trying to blind you,” and warned of the potential severity of such an injury.
Her appeal for a tougher federal response comes amid an intensifying national debate over how to respond to protests that have at times turned violent.
🚨NEW: Post Millennial Journalist @KatieDaviscourt got a BLACK-EYE from TRANTIFA and she says PORTLAND PD REFUSED to ARREST the attacker 🚨
“I ran straight to a Portland police officer. I tracked the suspect for 35 minutes through the streets and told them, “This is the person… pic.twitter.com/gFcISeVNdE
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 2, 2025
The state of Oregon filed suit last weekend after President Trump announced plans to deploy National Guard troops to Portland. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that he would “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” and said he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
Daviscourt said she believes the federal action is justified. “The Trump administration is absolutely correct in deploying federal troops here because Portland Police has completely abandoned this zone,” she told Watters. “They refuse to go in and everyone that shows up is on their own,” she said, urging what she described as a decisive crackdown: “The Trump administration needs to start treating Antifa like ISIS, the terrorists that they are, and put an end to them here for good.”
Whether federal reinforcements will satisfy residents and journalists fearful of further violence remains uncertain. But Ms. Daviscourt’s bruised face and urgent testimony offered a raw illustration of how the conflict over protest, policing and public safety has come to a head in one American city.
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