A historic Black church just won the rights to the ‘Proud Boys’ name
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church can now seize any proceeds the far-right group makes using the name.
Just five days into Black History Month, a major legal victory has stripped the notorious Proud Boys of the right to legally use their name.
On Monday, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic Black church in Washington, D.C. that was vandalized by the Proud Boys far-right militant group four years ago, was awarded the trademark by a DC judge.
CNN reported that Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier’s decision was meant to satisfy a $2.8 million default judgment against the violent far-right extremist militia in 2023 to get back damages incurred by the church during the December 2020 attack.
In December 2020, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church was attacked by members of the group and others in what a DC judge in 2023 called a “highly orchestrated” attack that impacted multiple historic Black churches. Black Lives Matter signs and other items were targeted and destroyed in the attacks.
According to court documents obtained by multiple sources, Judge Neal E. Kravitz said several people in Proud Boys regalia “leaped over Metropolitan AME’s fence, entered the church’s property, and went directly to the Black Lives Matter sign. They then broke the zip ties that held the sign in place, tore down the sign, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it while loudly celebrating. Many others then jumped over the fence onto the church’s property and joined in the celebration of the sign’s destruction.”
The ruling further opens up a path for the AME church to try to “seize” any proceeds the group might make from selling merchandise such as hats or T-shirts emblazoned with their name or logos, according to the New York Times.
Per the Washington Post, the two-page ruling states the group’s interests in the “Proud Boys” trademark will be officially transferred to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church and going forward, the Proud Boys must get consent from the church to use the trademark.
“The Church has a long history of standing up for justice and against all forms of hate,” the Metropolitan AME’s leader, Rev. William H. Lamar IV, told CNN. “We are determined to hold the Proud Boys accountable, and we will continue this fight.”
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