A Black church in Washington, D.C., now owns the trademark name to the Proud Boys after the violent group failed to pay $2.8 million in a civil judgment when the group vandalized the church.
Members of the all-male Proud Boys audaciously filmed themselves breaching the property of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in the nation’s capital in 2020, during the pinnacle of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Once the members climbed the fence, they destroyed the Black Lives Matter flag and other items at the church.
The Black church sued the Proud Boys and won
The pastor of the church, Rev. William H. Lamar IV, immediately sought legal recourse and sued the Proud Boys, who had posted their act of vandalism on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
When the church won the lawsuit against the Proud Boys and the group defied the court order to pay the church nearly $3 million, the church then returned to the court to sue the Proud Boys for rights to their name.
The Proud Boys punished for refusing to pay the civil suit
Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia granted them the name of the alt-right group that many classify as racist and violent.
The Black church makes money when the Proud Boys raise revenue
The court judgment means that the Proud Boys are no longer allowed to use their own name for purposes of fundraising or revenue generation without the permission of the Metropolitan AME Church. And when they do make money, the revenue stream will be legally rerouted to this Black church.
“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,” Lamar told CBS MoneyWatch. “If they thought we would be afraid, they were wrong. There are many people with us and who stand with us.”
The New York Times noted that the judgment against the Proud Boys comes just after Donald Trump won reelection and officially returned to the White House on Jan. 20. Trump also pardoned former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was serving 22 years for sedition when he and his group violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Proud Boys surprised by the court’s ruling
Therefore, this judgment comes as a surprise to the Proud Boys who thought they could get away with defying court orders, particularly with an alleged ally back in the Oval Office.
“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,” attorney Kaitlin Banner told CBS News. Banner represented the church court and currently serves as deputy legal director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
The Metropolitan AME Church is not only historic — it was founded in 1838, before the Civil War — it is very distinguished. The church has hosted iconic speakers, including Frederick Douglass and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
With the court’s ruling any money raised through sales of merchandise will enrich the coffers of the Black church they violated in 2020.
