Washington D.C. judge rules that Proud Boys will lose trademark to members of Black church

A ruling by a Washington D.C. judge on Monday has barred the Proud Boys from selling merchandise using its name or symbols without permission from a Black church in the same city.

According to the decision obtained by USA TODAY, Judge Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia gave the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church control of the “Proud Boys” trademark on Monday.

This comes after the church was attacked by members of the group, which included their leader Enrique Tarrio, back in December 2020 following a rally supporting President Donald Trump.

The ruling allows the church to seize and money the group makes using through  “any sale, transfer, disposition, or license of the Proud Boys Trademark.”

More: Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio tells all: Wants accusers to ‘feel the heat’, weighs sheriff run

Back in 2023, the same church won a $2.8 million default judgment against the group but then sought control of the trademark after the Proud Boys failed to pay the judgment. According to court records, no lawyer represented the Proud Boys in the case.

Tarrio reacts to judgment on social media

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tarrio reacted to the judgment calling for the judge’s impeachment on Saturday.

This organization, masquerading as a church, must be subjected to a thorough audit, and its non-profit status revoked immediately,” Tarrio said. “The judge’s conduct in this case necessitates impeachment and investigation.  Their actions are a betrayal of justice, reminiscent of Judas’s treachery.”

Tarrio, who was less than two years into a 22-year federal prison sentence for seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, received a pardon from Trump on the first day of his term.

Read the judgment here

What happened in 2020?

According to a complaint also obtained by USA TODAY, on December 12, 2020, hundreds of members of the Proud Boys attacked the church, destroying property, which included “tearing down, igniting, and otherwise destroying signs and banners supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement.”

Prosecutors alleged that members of the Proud Boys climbed over a fence around the church to burn the Black Lives Matter banner as an act to “intimidate the church.”

One of these signs hung at the front of the church, which led to the arrest of Tarrio only days before Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio was subsequently ordered out of the city and was not present during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol

Contributing: Will Carless

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proud Boys loses trademark to members of Black church, judge rules

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