By Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal | May 12, 2026
Agitators shouted “fascist” and obscenities over the weekend outside a Portland, Oregon, hotel where they believed FBI Director Kash Patel was staying, according to Fox 12 Oregon and several posts on social media. Patel was reportedly attending a friend’s funeral.
The agitators gathered outside the Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland. Some of the videos were posted on social media on Saturday; others were posted on Sunday.
“It wasn’t 100% confirmed but very likely he was at the Sentinel,” one protester told Fox 12. “We were there to protest the weaponization of [President Donald] Trump’s and Patel’s FBI to suppress our freedom of speech and freedom of press.”
The protesters claimed to oppose the “weaponization” of the FBI under Patel and the Trump administration. They also protested the FBI’s handling of information in the case involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to Fox 12 Oregon.
Fox News confirmed Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, were in Portland for the weekend to attend a funeral for a close friend, but did not confirm where the FBI director stayed.
Patel helped carry his friend’s casket during the funeral service, which was scheduled for Saturday, according to Fox News.
A protester told Fox 12 they used flight tracking data to monitor what they thought was a Department of Justice plane connected with Patel. After that, they attempted to determine where Patel was staying by observing the security and police presence in downtown Portland. Several protesters gathered Saturday at the Sentinel Hotel, believing he stayed there.
This has been a pattern during the Trump administration.
In January, protesters gathered outside a Minneapolis-area hotel, believing that senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino and Border Patrol agents were staying there. That same month in New York City, about 60 demonstrators filled the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn, claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were staying there.
Fred Lucas is senior investigative reporter for the Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.”
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