Tusitala Toese (<– this dude) was shot in the foot during an altercation between Proud Boys and alleged “antifa” members in Olympia, Washington, on Saturday, September 4, 2021 (read story here). By unknown person or persons, possibly himself.
Boo hoo.
The above-linked news report of the incident describes Toese as a “leader of the Portland Proud Boys,” and says he previously was “known to be a top lieutenant of Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, but that group has been less active as Gibson faces a potential felony riot conviction.”
Toese’s own arrest record is described by a Portland TV station here. From that story, it appears Portland cops colluded with Gibson and him to help him avoid arrest, when he had an outstanding warrant against him.
Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer are violent rightwing hate groups. Their members go to protests looking for fights.
Oh, and the t-shirt in the photo? It says, “Pinochet did nothing.”
The “nothing” that the former (and now dead) Chilean fascist dictator did included assassinating opponents, torturing and “disappearing” dissidents, and having people thrown out of airplanes into the Atlantic ocean (read details of his atrocities here).
Pinochet was a monster. Toese admires him, and is dedicating his own life to political extremism and violence. If an ER doctor swamped with Covid-19 patients declined to plug the hole in his extremity, and handed him a box of Bandaids instead, I would understand.
Related story: To understand why Portland is ground zero for extremist violence, read this article.