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Samoan man wanted for assault in Oregon is reportedly in American Samoa

Source: KGW8 Television

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — KGW8 TV in Portland, Oregon is reporting that one of the two Proud Boys members facing charges in that city for assault has apparently departed for American Samoa.

The Proud Boys is a far-right  neo-fascist organization that admits only men as members and promotes political violence, according to Wikipedia.

In what appears to be his Facebook page, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese is “enjoying my homeland” of American Samoa.

Meanwhile yesterday, Donovon Flippo ascended the steps of the Multnomah County Courthouse Wednesday, prepared to face a judge.

Flippo, a staple at Portland’s violent protests, is facing one count of third-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault for allegedly attacking a Portland man on a busy stretch of Northeast Broadway one afternoon back in June 2018.

Toese is also charged, but he was not in court.

In fact, unlike Flippo, 26-year-old Toese hasn’t even been arrested, and no court date has been set, since as stated on his Facebook page, he is in American Samoa.

In the post, peppered with pictures and American flag emojis, Toese writes he “will be back to stand court in Portland but as for now I need to help my people and myself.”

The post is dated March 5, nearly a week after a Multnomah County grand jury voted to indict Toese and Flippo on the assault charges. (That page now appears to be private and Samoa News was not independently able to download the photos or verify the post.)

The indictment was filed Feb. 28, the day after the vote, but deemed “secret.”

It remained sealed until Tuesday.

A spokesman for the District Attorney’s office declined to explain why the indictment was kept sealed for nearly two weeks, but did say via email, “There are some cases, and instances, where the state would not want an indictment being publicly disclosed for various reasons to include, but not limited to, officer safety when attempting to locate and arrest the accused, the safety of the victim, flight risk, and the integrity of an ongoing investigation.”

When asked about possible plans to extradite Toese back to Multnomah County, the spokesman wrote, “In general, after an indictment is returned by a grand jury, an arrest warrant is then issued by the court. The District Attorney’s Office works closely with law enforcement and the Governor’s Office on any extradition matters, if applicable.”

BACKGROUND

Toese and Flippo, who identify on social media as members of The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, are both charged with third degree assault and fourth degree assault.

The victim, Tim Ledwith said the attack happened on a busy stretch of North Broadway on June 8, where Toese and Flippo were riding in a truck with other far-right activists, yelling things like “Build the Wall.”

Ledwith said he physically waved them off, and they zeroed in on him, yelling homophobic slurs. He said he yelled back, calling Toese “Tiny”.

That’s when Ledwith said the two men jumped out of the truck, ran over to him and punched him multiple times.

Read more at KGW8