A Black church in Washington, D.C., now owns the “Proud Boys” trademark after a judge stripped it from the right-wing group in a judgment Monday.
The ruling gives the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church complete control over the group’s name and symbols, including the ability to monetize them as they see fit.
Judge Tanya Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia awarded the trademark after the group failed to pay a $2.8 million default judgment given in 2023 when they didn’t show up in court.
Should the church so choose, it’s now free to sell, transfer and license the Proud Boys trademark, including a black and yellow wreath logo with “PB” in the middle.
Proud Boys chapters across the country can no longer use the name or iconography either, unless granted approval by the church.
Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio responded Tuesday by accusing the church of engaging “in a campaign of harassment and falsehoods,” claiming the group was denied due process, and calling for the church’s nonprofit status to be revoked.
Church leaders filed suit after Proud Boys members vandalized the house of worship during a violent Dec. 12, 2020, “Million MAGA March” in support of Donald Trump after he lost the presidential election that year.
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
The group, which included Tarrio, John Turano, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Jeremy Bertino, attacked a total of four churches that night.
In a June 2023 ruling, D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz found the group “acted with an evil, discriminatory motive based on race and that their conduct was reprehensible to an extreme degree.”
Tarrio would go on to be convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. Trump pardoned Tarrio last month.