PORTLAND, Ore. — A notorious member of the far-right Proud Boys street gang received a nearly eight-year prison sentence in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday, the culmination of criminal charges arising from a street brawl and assault in 2021 outside of the now-destroyed Northeast Portland Kmart building.
Toese has been a frequent combatant in clashes between right and left-wing demonstrators in Portland since at least 2018. After pleading guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in 2018, a judge barred Toese from attending demonstrations for two years. He received a six-month jail sentence in 2020 after failing to uphold those terms.
In August of 2021, Toese helped organize a rally of "patriots" in the parking lot of the vacant Kmart building on Northeast 112nd Street, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's office.
"During this rally, Toese gave various speeches and incited the crowd with statements like, 'When Antifa shows up, show them no mercy.' When Antifa members showed up at the rally, members of the Proud Boys immediately attacked them," the DA's office said.
The confrontation spiraled into a brawl featuring the use of explosive devices, paint ball guns, bats and clubs. It spilled into the Parkrose High School parking lot, where Toese's group found a man sitting in his car.
"Toese yelled, 'He is Antifa,' and smashed out the driver’s side window with a baseball bat," the DA's office said. "This action, along with Toese’s other statements, encouraged multiple Proud Boys to destroy the car and attack the victim for a prolonged period of time with multiple weapons. Toese and his group also flipped over an Antifa support van."
On March 3 of this year, Toese was found guilty on 10 counts stemming from the 2021 brawl, including two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of unauthorized use of a weapon, two counts of riot and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.
On Friday, Circuit Court Judge Amy Baggio sentenced Toese to 95 months in prison. Currently in Multnomah County custody, Toese will be transported to the Oregon Department of Corrections to serve out his sentence.