Olympia police arrest man accused of shooting Proud Boy member during Sept. 4 clashes
Olympia police arrested a man they believe shot a Proud Boy member at the Intercity Transit Station during clashes on Sept. 4.
The man, a 36-year-old Olympia resident, was booked into Thurston County jail Thursday on suspicion of first-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon, according to a city news release.
The Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, and people allied with Antifa, a group against fascism, engaged each other at various locations in downtown Olympia on Sept. 4.
At around 3 p.m. the two groups reached the transit station, Police Chief Aaron Jelcick previously told The Olympian. Video from the incident shows a group of people dressed in black running through the transit center. At one point, one of these people appears to fire a handgun five times towards a group in pursuit.
The shooting resulted in Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, a regular Proud Boys organizer from the Portland area, being shot in the foot, Portland area media reported. He was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia following the shooting.
In the aftermath, residents complained about a lack of police response and the city braced itself for the Proud Boys’ return on Sept. 18 in response to the shooting. However, the Proud Boys’ rally outside City Hall came and went without violence. About 40 people attended, including around 10 counter-protesters, for about 90 minutes, Jelcick previously told The Olympian.
Lt. Paul Lower told The Olympian detectives found the man accused of the shooting with “good old-fashioned detective work.” He said the man was arrested without incident, but he declined to share whether they found the weapon used in the shooting.
“We’re still investigating pieces of this,” Lower said. “I’m not sure we want to get into the details of our case just yet.”
Detectives continue to investigate other assaults during the Sept. 4 clashes, Lower said, but no other arrests have been made so far.
“We have limited detectives here and our shop is pretty small,” Lower said. “We’re working as fast as we can with the resources we have.”
Anyone with information about the shooting or other assaults that may have happened that day can contact the Olympia Police Department at 360-753-8300.
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 9:49 AM.
