Fugitive Proud Boy is Back in Portland – and in Jail

Tusitala “Tiny” Toese has been on the run for several months, from assault charges, but we wake up today to a new mugshot (inset).

Portland Police arrested a Proud Boy/Patriot Prayer associate with a long history of violence who several months ago fled to his native American Samoa after assault charges were filed against him.

Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, 23, was booked by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, where he will remain in lieu of approximately $20,000 bail on charges of felony and misdemeanor assault charges, as well as a misdemeanor harassment charge. News reports say he was detained by U.S. Marshalls at Portland International Airport at 10:30 PM Friday night.

In addition to being a Proud Boy associate, Toese also was Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson’s right-hand man until they had a falling out. He was seen regularly at Patriot Prayer/Proud Boy rallies in Portland, where he engaged in several fights with antifascists opposing them.

The charges against Toese, stem from a June 8, 2018 attack on a liberal critic of the group. According to the Wilamette Week, he and fellow Proud Boy Donovan Flippo were driving around Portland in a truck bearing a flag emblazoned with Donald Trump’s face. A man on the street, Timothy Ledwith, recognized Toese and taunted him. The two jumped out of the truck and attacked Ledwith who suffered a bloody nose and lip. Toese and Ledwith were arrested a few days after the attack, but released without facing charges. They were eventually charged via a sealed indictment by a grand jury in late February, nine months after the assault. Flippo pled guilty in July and was sentenced to probation, but Toese had fled for American Samoa and remained a fugitive until Friday night.

This arrest is the latest in legal problems for the neo-Fascist Proud Boys who has seen a number of its members arrested and convicted for violent crimes on both coasts. Despite this, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, who has called his group a gang and famously said in an interview with right wing radio host Steve Malzberg, “Violence is a really effective way to solve problems,” was given an recent article in Los Angeles Magazine that many have seen as a fluff piece. In one instance, the article notes, “By the end of last year, as his association with the Proud Boys became increasingly publicized, McInnes announced he was ‘disassociating himself’ from the group and claimed he was ‘never the leader, only the founder.'” The article fails to mention that McInnes left the organization in the wake of Proud Boys getting arrested and charged for their role in an attack outside the Manhattan Republican Club in New York City where he was speaking at the time, saying, “I’m told by my legal team and law enforcement that this gesture could help alleviate their sentencing.”  And despite a photo caption saying that McInnes “disavowed” the Proud Boys, McInnes was one of the speakers at a Proud Boys-sponsored rally in July where he suggested that his adversaries “would be dead” if he had a gang of right wing activists.

The @LAmag profile of Gavin McInnes is stunningly bad. You can’t excuse decades of racism and violence because sometimes he is nice to you the author. It’s not an ironic bit that he will grow out of. How does this shit get published?

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 3, 2019

“I’m not just coming for the writer of this vile article that attempts to humanize alt-right trash bag #GavinMcInnes. I’m coming after the whole publication & every editor that looked at this dumpster fire & thought: ‘This is fine.’” @papayathemariah⁩ https://t.co/gXCqdLqv5p

— L.A. TACO 🌴🌮 (@LATACO) October 4, 2019

Toese is scheduled to appear Monday morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court.