WASHINGTON, DC – The “Proud Boys” trademark has been stripped from the right-wing group and is now owned, as of Feb. 3, by the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal church, according to HuffPost.
HuffPost reports 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.”
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia’s Judge Tanya Jones Bosier made this ruling after the Proud Boys group “failed to pay a $2.8 million default judgment given in 2023 when they didn’t show up in court,” states HuffPost.
The church would also need to grant approval for organizations to use the name, iconography, and a black and yellow wreath logo with “PB” in the middle, according to HuffPost.
Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio responded, accusing the church of conducting “a campaign of harassment and falsehoods,” alleging the group was denied due process, and urging the revocation of the church’s nonprofit status, reports HuffPost.
This is all following the Proud Boys members vandalizing the church during their “Million MAGA March” on Dec. 12, 2020 to support Donald Trump after losing the Presidential election, according to the HuffPost.
Tarrio stated, “This organization, masquerading as a church, must be subjected to a thorough audit, and its non-profit status revoked immediately. The judge’s conduct in this case necessitates impeachment and investigation,” while making many references to Bible treachery and oppression as reported by HuffPost.
HuffPost wrote the group of vandalizers included Tarrio, John Turano, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Jeremy Bertino.
“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,’” reports HuffPost.
Despite Tarrio’s sentencing of 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan 6th 2021 attack on the US Capitol, Trump pardoned him last month, added HuffPost.
Tarrio wants those “who investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol to ‘pay for what they did,’” and that, “‘they need to feel the heat,’” reports HuffPost.
