1 of 2 | Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, leader of the far-right hate group Proud Boys (pictured in 2020) was serving a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy only to be pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in the days following the MAGA leader’s Jan. 20 inaugural. This week a judge granted ownership of the “Proud Boys” trademarked name to a Black church the racist group in 2020 had vandalized, according to multiple reports. File Photo By Gamal Diab/EPA-EFE
Feb. 4 (UPI) — A judge has granted ownership of the “Proud Boys” trademarked name to a Black church the racist group in 2020 had vandalized, according to multiple reports.
On Monday, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier ruled that the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., was given full ownership of the group’s now formerly-owned trademark.
“This is our time to stand up, to be very clear to the Proud Boys and their ilk that we came here fighting, that we have never ever capitulated to the violent whims of White supremacist groups,” the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, Metropolitan AME’s pastor, told CBS.
The D.C. superior court judge also decided Metropolitan AME Church, founded in 1838, will be given a lien on trademark rights and the power to block the Proud Boys from selling licensed items without church approval, affecting the sales of such things as hats, T-shirts or other paraphernalia.
“If they thought we would be afraid, they were wrong,” said Lamar. “There are many people with us and who stand with us.”
According to court documents, it stemmed from a Dec. 12, 2020, incident when members of the all-male White supremacy organization attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in the nation’s capital and attacked church property by climbing over a fence and destroyed a “Black Lives Matter” sign.
That July, Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio pleaded guilty to the act.
The church — where the likes of Frederick Douglass, Oprah Winfrey and ex-President Barack Obama have worshipped — in January 2021 first sued the hate organization.
A court later ordered the Proud Boys to pay $2.8 million to the church, which it failed to forfeit, court documents noted.
Meanwhile, Tarrio said he believed Bosier should be removed from the bench and the church nonprofit status revoked, as he indicated no intent to follow the law.
“I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me,” he wrote on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X.
Tarrio, 42, was serving a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy only to be pardoned by President Donald Trump in the days following Trump’s Jan. 20 inaugural. Tarrio’s sentence was the longest of any defendant tied to the deadly and violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Bosier’s ruling could damage the far-right hate syndicate’s ability to recruit new members and raise money.
“From our point of view, it’s fitting that the money the Proud Boys raised in sales and dues will go to fund the good work of the Metropolitan AME,” Kaitlin Banner, the deputy legal director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee who represented the church, stated.