Washington D.C. — A D.C. Superior Court Judge has awarded an historic Black church control over the Proud Boys trademark after the group defaulted on a $2.8 million judgment.
The Monday ruling grants rights to the trademark of the far-right group’s name to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as barring the Proud Boys members from selling any merchandise with the group’s name or symbols without the church’s consent. The ruling also allows the church to try to seize any money made from selling the group’s merchandise.
The church filed the lawsuit to try to recoup damages from vandalism made by group members after a December 2020 pro-Donald Trump rally. Black Lives Matter banners were torn down and burned at two churches, including Metropolitan African Methodist. There were also violent clashes between opposing protesters and arrests were made that night.
Enrique Tarrio, then the leader of the Proud Boys, confessed to participating in the burnings and was later sentenced to more than five months in jail on those and other charges. Tarrio was later sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for orchestrating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump granted pardons, commutations or vowed to dismiss cases against the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol— including Tarrio.
In a lengthy statement posted to X, Tarrio wrote, “The presiding judge has denied due process to myself and the other defendants, preventing us from presenting a proper defense.” Tarrio also suggested in separate posts that the Proud Boys rename themselves, “African Methodist Episcopal Boys” and asked for suggestions on a new name.
Case records show the lawsuit was served to Tarrio at the federal prison where he was housed when it was filed, as well as to at least one other address associated with him and another member. The church lawsuit called the actions on Dec. 12, 2020 “acts of terror” and said they were meant to intimidate the members of the church.
A default judgement was awarded to the church in June 2023. After no payments were been made and no responses were filed by the Proud Boys or their representatives, lawyers for the church filed a motion in December seeking rights to the trademark.
An attorney representing the church in the civil action did not respond to a request for comment. Nayib Hassan, Tarrio’s attorney, declined to comment.