The Proud Boys are barred from selling merchandise using the right-wing extremist group’s name or symbols without permission from a Black church once vandalized by its members after a Washington judge on Monday revoked their control over the trademark.
Judge Tanya Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia turned control of the trademark “Proud Boys” over to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was attacked by members of the group, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, after a December 2020 rally supporting President Trump.
The church previously won a $2.8 million default judgment against the Proud Boys in 2023 but sought control of the group’s trademarked name when it failed to pay up.
Now, the church can attempt to seize any money the Proud Boys make via “any sale, transfer, disposition, or license” of the group’s name or signature logos, including a black and yellow laurel wreath, according to the order.
In a lengthy statement published to the social platform X, Tarrio called for the judge’s impeachment and suggested the church should be audited, asserting “retribution is inevitable.”
“Their actions are a betrayal of justice, reminiscent of Judas’s treachery,” Tarrio said, referencing the biblical figure who betrayed Jesus. “I hold in contempt any motions, judgments, and orders issued against me.”
The vandalization of the church — specifically the destruction of a Black Lives Matter banner it had on display — proved pivotal. Tarrio was arrested for burning the banner days before Jan. 6, 2021, and was ordered out of the city, preventing him from joining other Proud Boys at the Capitol that day.
The violence between Proud Boys and anti-Trump protesters on Dec. 12, 2020, the night the church was attacked, also marked a turning point in the right-wing group’s relationship with police. Prosecutors described that night as a critical precursor to the Capitol attack.
Tarrio, who was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 22 years in prison over Jan. 6, received a full and unconditional pardon from Trump as part of the sweeping clemency he granted to those charged in connection with the riot. Other leaders in the group saw their sentences for sedition or different serious felonies commuted to time served.
