Portland Mercury [portlandmercury.com]
A member of the Proud Boys, a national alt-right group, pled guilty Tuesday to assaulting a Portland man in June 2018 on a Northeast Portland sidewalk.
Tusitala "Tiny" Toese, 23, was accused of punching Portlander Tim Ledwith on June 8, 2018, with the assistance of fellow Proud Boy Donovon Flippo. According to court testimony, both men had been in a truck yelling homophobic and pro-Trump statements when they passed Ledwith, who was walking on the sidewalk. Ledwith cursed at them, prompting the truck's driver to pull over and let Flippo and Toese hop out and assault Ledwith.While Flippo pled guilty and served eight days in jail for his assault charges, Toese maintained his innocence. On October 7, 2019, Toese pled not guilty to two assault charges—one a misdemeanor and the other a felony.
At a Tuesday hearing, Toese agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge in exchange for Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Dailey dropping the felony charge. Dailey also sentenced Toese to 80 hours of community service and banned him from protesting in Multnomah County for two years. Up until his arrest, Toese played a leading role in violent Portland protests organized by Patriot Prayer, a far-right activist organization based in Vancouver, WA. Prior to the 2018 assault, Toese was arrested for harassing protesters during a 2017 rally.
"I apologize... to all the parties involved," Toese told Dailey.