The Proud Boys logo has officially been repurposed to benefit the same Black community they once terrorized.
After winning the official trademark for the “Proud Boys” name, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal, a historic Black church in Washington, D.C., has started selling merch with the revamped logo.
Presently, there are two limited edition shirts up for grabs, each for $20. Both shirts are black and have been emblazoned with golden yellow laurels around a bold “PB.” One shirt says “Stay Proud, Stay Black,” and the other, “Stay Proud, Black Lives Matter.”
“We are doing Spirit work, soil work, and solidarity work,” Reverend William Lamar, the church’s pastor, told his congregation during Sunday’s livestream, which included a QR code for the shirts, per Rolling Stone magazine.
He added that the shirts are “our version of the trademark that now belongs to us.”
The sale launched just a week after the church was awarded the far-right militant group’s trademark as restitution for funds owed in a lawsuit. Metropolitan AME sued members of the Proud Boys, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, on Jan. 4, 2021, stemming from an attack the neo-fascist organization launched on the AME church and one other historic Black church in the nation’s capital, Asbury United Methodist, in December 2020.
During the December 2020 attack, video footage uploaded to the internet showed members of the hate group violently destroying a Black Lives Matter sign with knives on the AME church’s front lawn. A Black Lives Matter banner at Asbury was set on fire in the melee.
Rolling Stone magazine reported that the organization was sued under the FACE Act for trespassing, theft, bias-related conspiracy, damage to religious property, and defacement of private property. In June 2023, Metropolitan AME won its suit and was awarded over a million dollars in damages from Tarrio and four other members. The amount was increased to $2.8 million to cover legal fees and has since reached $3 million, including interest.
Since the Proud Boys have yet to pay up, with Tarrio complaining he’s “poor,” the church decided to take over their name. However, in the days since the ruling, the Proud Boys have, somewhat predictably, responded by harassing the church online.
In a post on X, Tarrio wrote, per NBC 4 Washington, “This church has engaged in a campaign of harassment and falsehoods. We were subjected to unjust incarceration and mistreatment at the hands of our own government, leaving us no recourse. Their actions are a betrayal of justice, reminiscent of Judas’s treachery. I hold in contempt any motions, judgments, and orders issued against me.”
In another post, he added, “The Proud Boys are now changing our name to the … ‘African Methodist Episcopal Boys.’”
He told Rolling Stone he was going to “start printing shirts” of his own and explained that he was “broke” and could not pay them what the suit initially asked for.
The church, denying any claims that they are targeting the poor, told the outlet they are seeking accountability for those who terrorized them.
Lamar said, “Legally, we own their trademark and we should receive any economic benefit from it. People have asked will we negotiate with them and let them use [their name] and no, we will not. Not under any circumstance.”
Kanye West is a terrible parent