Tusitala Toese

Tusitala John Toese (born June 4, 1996)[4] also known as Tiny, is a convicted felon.[5] He is a member[6][7][8] of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that engages in political violence in the United States. He was, and still is, a member of the Portland area far-right group Patriot Prayer, prior to joining the Proud Boys[9][7] and has been convicted of multiple criminal charges for violence at rallies.[10][11]

Tusitala John Toese
Toese in 2017
Born (1996-06-04) June 4, 1996
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTiny
Known formember of Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer
Criminal charges
  • Second-degree assault with a weapon (x2)
  • Third degree assault (x2)
  • Unlawful use of a weapon (x2)
  • Riot (x2)
  • First-degree criminal mischief (x2)[1]
Criminal penalty95 months in prison [2]
Criminal statusIncarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution[3]

Activities
Toese at a Patriot Prayer rally in Seattle, Washington in 2017

Toese, a resident of Vancouver, Washington[12] became involved with the far right group Patriot Prayer in 2017.[13] He is originally from American Samoa.[14][5][15] Toese, a friend of Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson, punched a man in the face during a Portland, Oregon rally in Chapman Square on May 13, 2017.[4][16] Described as "a regular presence at alt-right events in Portland throughout the year", Toese was detained and first cited for a crime at a rally for Patriot Prayer in August 2017.[17] He was then arrested at another Patriot Prayer rally on December 9, 2017, after he struck a counter protester in the face.[18] He was convicted of harassment stemming from the fight at the December 2017 rally in downtown Portland.[10]

Toese is affiliated with both Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys.[16] In January 2018, he led a group of Proud Boys in a counter protest at the 2018 Women's March in Seattle alongside members of Patriot Prayer.[8] The Proud Boys, some wearing shirts that targeted feminists as "parasites of the patriarchy", shouted misogynistic slurs at the women attending the event.[8]

The Southern Poverty Law Center described Toese as Gibson's right-hand man in 2018.[19]

In May 2018, when in the company of several Proud Boys members, Toese was filmed getting into a physical altercation with a teenager at the Vancouver Mall in Clark County, Washington before security officers intervened and separated them.[20]

Toese appeared at a Patriot Prayer rally in August 2018 wearing a shirt printed with "Pinochet was right" and RWDS,[21] shorthand used by the Proud Boys for "right wing death squad".[22] The following month, he traveled to Austin, Texas with Gibson for a "Free Alex Jones" demonstration (an event protesting the removal of Jones, a conspiracy theorist and radio host, from several social media platforms) where police removed Toese after he threatened bystanders.[16]

The BBC reported that by March 2019, Toese had been arrested 18 times, on charges including assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.[23]

Toese was indicted by a grand jury[10] and charged with assault following a June 8, 2018, incident in Portland, Oregon[24] that left a man with "stitches and a concussion".[25] He was arrested on October 4, 2019, at Portland International Airport when returning from American Samoa.[10] He was charged with felony assault.[12]

He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in January 2020 and was barred from attending protests for two years.[20] In June 2020, Toese was filmed engaging in a fight outside Seattle's Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone.[25][26][27]

In October 2020, Toese was sentenced to six months in jail for a probation violation[28] related to the 2018 conviction for misdemeanor assault.[29]

Toese was among the speakers at a Proud Boys event in Portland dubbed "The Summer of Love" on August 22, 2021, that ended in a brawl in the Parkrose neighborhood with shots fired in downtown Portland. Proud Boys and anti-fascist counter protesters deployed bear mace and shot paintballs at each other. After they flipped over a white van and smashed the windows out, the Proud Boys including Toese were observed shooting paintballs at people while driving around the suburban, residential Parkrose neighborhood.[30]

Toese was reportedly shot in the ankle during an anti COVID lockdown protest in Olympia, Washington on September 4, 2021.[7][31]

On September 10, 2021, he appeared at an anti-mask demonstration at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington alongside Gibson.[32]

December 2021 arrest and conviction

Toese was arrested in December 2021 in connection with the August rally in East Portland which occurred earlier that same year.[11] He was extradited from Washington to Oregon and charged with three counts of second-degree assault with a weapon, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of riot and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief in Multnomah County Circuit Court.[33]

Toese was released from county jail on bail around June 8, 2022, and court records from November 15, 2022 allege that he was not returning calls to his pre-trial release officer and had let his GPS ankle monitor go dead.[34]

On March 2, 2023, Toese was found guilty on two counts each of second-degree assault with a weapon, third-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, riot and first-degree criminal mischief. One count of second-degree assault was dropped.[1] Under Oregon's Measure 11 guidelines, second-degree assault is a felony carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in state prison. [35] On July 21, 2023 a judge sentenced Toese to 95 months in prison.[2] As of August 29th, 2023 he was being held at the Snake River Correctional Institution, with his earliest possible release date set for April 30th, 2030.[3]

References
  1. Sparling, Zane (March 5, 2023). "Proud Boy Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese guilty on 10 counts in Portland street clash". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  2. Ehrlich, April (July 21, 2023). "Proud Boy Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese sentenced to 8 years for violence at Portland rallies". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Portland. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  3. "Oregon Department of Corrections". Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023. SID number: 22492701
  4. Mesh, Aaron; Pein, Corey (May 23, 2017). "White Supremacists Are Brawling with Masked Leftists in the Portland Streets. Homeland Security is Watching". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  5. O’Connor, Brendan (January 21, 2021). "Trump's useful thugs: how the Republican party offered a home to the Proud Boys". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  6. Currie, Chuck (September 3, 2021). "The Proud Boys came to Portland. Here is what I saw". The Washington Post. Religion News Services. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  7. Sparling, Zane (September 5, 2021). "Portland Proud Boy leader 'Tiny' Toese shot by opposing group at WA clash, city says". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  8. Nichols, William Bradford (December 27, 2018). "What Patriot Prayer is Praying For". thehumanist.com. The Humanist. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  9. "Proud Boys member involved in Portland fights arrested". ABC News. Associated Press. October 5, 2019. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  10. Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (October 20, 2020). "Proud Boy, Patriot Prayer brawler Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese sentenced to 6 months in Portland jail". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  11. "2 from right-wing group charged in 2021 Portland clash". AP News. January 31, 2022. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  12. "Proud Boy barred from protests after beating gets jail time". AP NEWS. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  13. Shepherd, Katie (December 10, 2017). "Right-Wing Slugger "Tiny" Toese Arrested Again While Trolling Portland". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  14. Wendling, Mike (March 8, 2019). "Proud Boys and antifa: When a right-wing activist met a left-wing anti-fascist". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  15. O’Connor, Brendan (August 6, 2018). "An Afternoon With Portland's 'Multiracial' Far Right". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  16. Janik, Rachel (September 26, 2018). "Police intervened to stop a Proud Boy from becoming violent at a 'Free Alex Jones' event in Austin". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  17. Shepherd, Katie (August 6, 2017). "Huge Alt-Right Brawler Called "Tiny" Faces Criminal Charge Tonight After Portland Ruckus". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  18. Njus, Elliot (December 10, 2017). "1 arrested after fights break out at Patriot Prayer rally, counter-protest". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  19. "Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys roll into Portland ready for a fight". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  20. Wilson, Conrad (January 14, 2020). "Patriot Prayer's Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese Pleads Guilty To Assault Charge". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  21. Coaston, Jane (September 8, 2020). "The pro-Trump, anti-left Patriot Prayer group, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  22. George-Parkin, Hilary (January 12, 2021). "Insurrection merch shows just how mainstream extremism has become". Vox. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  23. Wendling, Mark (March 8, 2019). "Proud Boys and antifa: When a right-wing activist met a left-wing anti-fascist". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  24. Wilson, Jason (June 16, 2018). "Portland man says he was attacked by man linked to far-right Senate candidate". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  25. Wilson, Conrad (June 23, 2020). "Warrant Issued For Right-Wing Brawler Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  26. "Warrant issued for Vancouver 'Proud Boy' busted at Seattle protest". KOMO. August 12, 2020. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  27. Connor, Tracy (June 26, 2020). "Proud Boy Jailed After Being Caught on Video in Seattle Protest Zone". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  28. "Proud Boy 'Tiny' Toese sentenced to 6 months in jail for violating probation". KATU. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  29. Marcus, Josh (August 23, 2021). "Proud Boy leader complains police didn't protect him during Portland clash". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  30. Haas, Ryan; Levinson, Johnathan (August 22, 2021). "Gunfire erupts after Proud Boys and anti-fascists openly brawl in Portland without police intervention". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  31. Bilbao, Martín (September 10, 2021). "Police share video of Sept. 4 shooting, clash in downtown Olympia". The Olympian. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  32. Brynelson, Troy (September 10, 2021). "Anti-mask demonstrators return to Vancouver's Skyview High School, despite court order". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  33. "Proud Boy 'Tiny' Toese arraigned in Portland in violent August clash". The Columbian. March 23, 2022. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  34. "21CR61225 - Raindrop Works Court Records". court.raindrop.works. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  35. "Proud Boy Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese faces felony charges in clash near abandoned Portland Kmart". www.kgw.com. January 19, 2022. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
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