Far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys, lost control of their naming rights to a historic Black church in Washington DC that members of the group vandalized in 2020.
After a Trump rally in DC in December 2020 members of the Proud Boys jumped over the fence at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church and destroyed a Black Lives Matter sign erected in June 2020, a month after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police.
In June 2023, a D.C. Superior Court ordered that the Proud Boys pay the church $2.8 million as part of a civil suit judgment for destruction of property.
When the far-right group failed to hand over the money, the church tried to get control of their trademark.
On Monday, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier ruled that all the group’s interests in the “Proud Boys” trademark will be transferred to the church, according to CNN.
Also, the organization and people associated with the Proud Boys cannot use their logo to sell any merch without first getting consent from the DC church.
The ruling also means that any money the group makes from using the trademark must be paid to the church to help settle the outstanding debt.
Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former leader slammed the judge’s ruling.
“Their actions are a betrayal of justice,” he told The New York Times. “I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me.”
Tarrio had been serving a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. He was pardoned last month by President Donald Trump.
