Tusitala Toese

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Tusitala Toese
Tusitala "Tiny" Toese.jpg
Toese in 2017
Born (1996-06-04) June 4, 1996 (age 25)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTiny
Known forleader of Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer
Criminal charge(s)felony assault
Criminal penaltymisdemeanor assault, probation violations

Tusitala Toese (born June 4, 1996)[1] also known as "Tiny" Toese is an American right wing political activist.[2] He is a leader[3][4][5] of the Proud Boys, a far right group that engages in political violence in the United States. Toese was a key member of the Portland area far right group Patriot Prayer, prior to joining the Proud Boys.[6][4] He has faced multiple criminal charges for violence at rallies.[7]

Activism[]

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

Toese, a resident of Vancouver, Washington[8] became involved with the far right group Patriot Prayer in 2017.[9] He is originally from American Samoa.[10][2][11] Willamette Week reported that Toese, a friend of Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson, had punched a man in the face during a Portland, Oregon rally in Chapman Square on May 13, 2017.[1] Toese, described as "a regular presence at alt-right events in Portland throughout the year", was detained and first cited for a crime at a Patriot Prayer rally in Portland in August 2017.[12] He was then arrested at a Patriot Prayer rally on December 9, 2017 after he struck a counter protester in the face.[13] He was convicted of harassment stemming from the fight at the December 2017 rally in downtown Portland.[7]

In January 2018, Toese led a group of Proud Boys in a counter protest at the 2018 Women's March in Seattle alongside members of Patriot Prayer.[5] The Proud Boys, some wearing shirts that targeted feminists as "parasites of the patriarchy", shouted misogynistic slurs at the women attending the event.[5]

The Southern Poverty Law Center described Toese as Gibson's right hand man in 2018.[14]

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.[15]

Toese appeared at a Patriot Prayer rally in August 2018 wearing a shirt printed with "Pinochet was right" and RWDS,[16] shorthand used by the Proud Boys for "right wing death squad".[17]

The BBC reported that by March 2019, Toese had been arrested 18 times, on charges including assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.[10]

Toese was indited by a grand jury[7] and charged with assault following a June 8, 2018 incident in Portland, Oregon[18] that left a man with "stitches and a concussion".[19] He was arrested on October 4, 2019 at Portland International Airport when returning from American Samoa.[7] He was charged with felony assault.[8]

He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in January 2020 and was bared from attending protests for two years.[15] In June 2020, Toese was filmed engaging in a fight outside Seattle's Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone.[19][20][21]

In October 2020, Toese was sentenced to six months in jail for a probation violation[22] related to the 2018 conviction for misdemeanor assault.[23]

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.[24]

Toese was reportedly shot in the ankle during an anti COVID lockdown protest in Olympia, Washington on September 4, 2021.[4][25]

On September 10, 2021 he appeared at an anti-mask demonstration at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington alongside Gibson.[26]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Mesh, Aaron; Pein, Corey (May 23, 2017). "White Supremacists Are Brawling with Masked Leftists in the Portland Streets. Homeland Security is Watching". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b O’Connor, Brendan (2021-01-21). "Trump's useful thugs: how the Republican party offered a home to the Proud Boys". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Currie, Chuck (September 3, 2021). "The Proud Boys came to Portland. Here is what I saw". Washington Post. Religion News Services. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  4. ^ a b c Sparling, Zane (September 5, 2021). "Portland Proud Boy leader 'Tiny' Toese shot by opposing group at WA clash, city says". Portland Tribune. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c Nichols, William Bradford (January–February 2019). "What PATRIOT PRAYER is Praying For". The Humanist. 79 (1): 23+. Retrieved September 12, 2021 – via Gale Academic OneFile.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  6. ^ "Proud Boys member involved in Portland fights arrested". ABC News. Associated Press. October 5, 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c d Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (2020-10-20). "Proud Boy, Patriot Prayer brawler Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese sentenced to 6 months in Portland jail". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  8. ^ a b "Proud Boy barred from protests after beating gets jail time". AP NEWS. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  9. ^ Shepherd, Katie (December 10, 2017). "Right-Wing Slugger "Tiny" Toese Arrested Again While Trolling Portland". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2021-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b Wendling, Mark (March 8, 2019). "Proud Boys and antifa: When a right-wing activist met a left-wing anti-fascist". BBC News. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  11. ^ O’Connor, Brendan (2018-08-06). "An Afternoon With Portland's 'Multiracial' Far Right". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  12. ^ Shepherd, Katie (August 6, 2017). "Huge Alt-Right Brawler Called "Tiny" Faces Criminal Charge Tonight After Portland Ruckus". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2021-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Njus, Elliot (2017-12-10). "1 arrested after fights break out at Patriot Prayer rally, counter-protest". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2021-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys roll into Portland ready for a fight". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 6, 2018. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b Wilson, Conrad (January 14, 2020). "Patriot Prayer's Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese Pleads Guilty To Assault Charge". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ Coaston, Jane (2020-09-08). "The pro-Trump, anti-left Patriot Prayer group, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  17. ^ George-Parkin, Hilary (2021-01-12). "Insurrection merch shows just how mainstream extremism has become". Vox. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  18. ^ Wilson, Jason (2018-06-16). "Portland man says he was attacked by man linked to far-right Senate candidate". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ a b Wilson, Conrad (June 23, 2020). "Warrant Issued For Right-Wing Brawler Tusitala 'Tiny' Toese". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "Warrant issued for Vancouver 'Proud Boy' busted at Seattle protest". KOMO. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Connor, Tracy (2020-06-26). "Proud Boy Jailed After Being Caught on Video in Seattle Protest Zone". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  22. ^ "Proud Boy 'Tiny' Toese sentenced to 6 months in jail for violating probation". KATU. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ Marcus, Josh (2021-08-23). "Proud Boy leader complains police didn't protect him during Portland clash". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ 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. Retrieved 2021-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Bilbao, Martín (September 10, 2021). "Police share video of Sept. 4 shooting, clash in downtown Olympia". The Olympian.
  26. ^ Brynelson, Troy (September 10, 2021). "Anti-mask demonstrators return to Vancouver's Skyview High School, despite court order". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2021-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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