Updated 1:37 p.m.
A right-wing activist who rose to prominence for brawling in the streets of Portland during political protests and who fled the Pacific Northwest after being indicted on felony assault charges was arrested Friday, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service detained Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, 23, at the Portland International Airport around 10:30 p.m., said Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. He was later booked into the Multnomah County jail on a pair of outstanding warrants, records show.
Toese, who is 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, gained notoriety as a member of the right-wing groups Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys who routinely pummeled and pounded left-wing activists and other people during demonstrations in Portland.
Tusitala "Tiny" Toese was booked into the Multnomah County jail Oct. 4, 2019.
He also served as Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson’s right-hand man until the pair had a falling out for undisclosed reasons.
A Vancouver resident, Toese reportedly returned to his hometown in American Samoa after a Multnomah County grand jury indicted him and fellow Proud Boy Donovan Flippo on assault charges in February.
The pair were accused of beating up a man during a June 2018 confrontation in Northeast Portland. Flippo pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault earlier this year.
In addition, records show Toese has an outstanding warrant on charges of harassment and disorderly conduct stemming from a brawl at a December 2017 protest in Portland.
He is scheduled to appear Monday morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Weisberg said.
“Yesterday’s arrest of Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese is another encouraging sign that local law enforcement is taking Proud Boy violence seriously," Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, which monitors right-wing extremism from its base in Portland, said in a statement.
"He must be held responsible for sowing chaos and violence in our community. We look to local authorities to take further steps to prevent violence and intimidation by racist and sexist organizations active in our region.”
-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632
Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com
Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh
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