A Black church in Washington DC, once targeted by the Proud Boys, now holds the ultimate leverage: ownership of the far-right group's name and branding.
A judge ruled Monday that the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church now controls the "Proud Boys" trademark, which strips the extremist organization of its ability to profit from its name.
Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued the ruling, which bans the group from selling merchandise with its name or symbols without the church's consent. The decision stems from a $2.8 million default judgment awarded to the church in June 2023 after Proud Boys members, led by Enrique Tarrio, vandalized its property during a pro-Trump rally back in December 2020.
With this ruling, all Proud Boys chapters nationwide must now seek permission from the very institution they once sought to silence if they wish to use their own name. The church can also pursue financial compensation by seizing proceeds from Proud Boys merchandise sales, including items branded with the group's signature black and yellow laurel wreath logo.
"Their actions are a betrayal of justice," Tarrio wrote in response to the ruling per The New York Times. "I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me."
An initial ruling found that Tarrio and Proud Boy members scaled a fence, tore down a Black Lives Matter banner from the church, and set it on fire.
The church's lawsuit described the Proud Boys' acts as "terror," asserting they aimed to silence its racial justice advocacy. The judge agreed and labeled the group's conduct as "hateful and overtly racist."
The ruling sends a clear message to extremists just as the Proud Boys grew more emboldened following President Trump's recent pardon of nearly 1,600 people tied to the January 6 Capitol attack, including Tarrio, who had been serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy.
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