Historic Black church given ‘Proud Boys’ trademark calls for stand against hate
A hearse carrying the casket of Rosa Parks and a 1950s era bus sit in front of the Metropolitan AME Church where a memorial service for the civil rights icon was being held on Oct. 31, 2005, in Washington, D.C. A judge has ordered the naming rights of the extremist group the Proud Boys be given to the church.
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A historic Black church in Washington, D.C., that has been awarded control of the name of an extremist group that vandalized its property is calling for people to take a stand against hate.
On Monday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ordered that all interests in Proud Boys International’s trademarked name, “Proud Boys,” be given to Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. And no one can sell, transfer, license or dispose of the Proud Boys’ trademarked name without permission from the church or the court, according to the judgment.
The order is a victory for the church, after it asked the court to enforce a default judgment of $2.8 million in damages and said it was “entitled to all of PBI’s interests in the Proud Boys Trademark and a lien on the Trademark.”
During pro-Trump rallies in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12, 2020, members of the Proud Boys “violently tore down and destroyed” a Black Lives Matter sign in front of the church, according to a June 2023 ruling.
“For the first time in our nation’s history, a Black institution owns property of a white supremacist group. Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church now owns the exclusive rights to the Proud Boys trademark, stripping them of the very name they rallied under,” the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, said in a statement on the church’s website.
Lamar continued, “In these unprecedented times, we are called to continue doing the work of Jesus in the church, the community, and the world.” He called for people to “stand with us and against hate,” including by making a financial contribution to the church.
NPR reached out to an attorney for Enrique Tarrio, then leader of the Proud Boys, for comment but has not received a response. In a social media post on X, Tarrio claimed that the church has “engaged in a campaign of harassment and falsehoods.”
“Furthermore, the presiding judge has denied due process to myself and the other defendants, preventing us from presenting a proper defense,” Tarrio wrote.
Tarrio also suggested the group now be renamed the “African Methodist Episcopal Boys.”
The church, which traces its origins to 1838, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has hosted many prominent leaders, including activists Ida B. Wells and Booker T. Washington. Frederick Douglass worshiped there.
