by Sharelle B. McNair
August 12, 2025
National Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio condemned the court’s initial ruling on the group’s trademark loss, saying during an interview, “I wipe my ass with it.”
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, a historic Black institution in Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit against the New York chapter of the white nationalist group The Proud Boys for using the name and logo on merchandise, as the church controls the “Proud Boys” trademark, WTOP reports.
In a suit filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, Metropolitan AME accused the Hudson Valley Proud Boys Chapter, president William Pepe, and 100 “John Does” of trademark infringement for use of the name and black and yellow wreath logo in online recruitment efforts and merchandise sales. The church sent a cease-and-desist letter to Pepe, demanding that the chapter stop using the Proud Boys name within its communications.
While the group continues to deny any ties to white supremacy, Metropolitan “is trying to evolve the ‘Proud Boys’ name to be associated with the Church’s mission of love and humanity, rather than white supremacy, hatred, and violence, and in doing so transform and improve the goodwill the Church inherited in connection therewith.”
The lawsuit is just another dent in the five-year-long battle between the group and the church, starting in December 2020 when the Proud Boys destroyed Black Lives Matter signs at two historically Black churches following a pro-Donald Trump rally. According to WUSA 9, a D.C. judge awarded the church $2.8 million in damages and condemned the Proud Boys for their “hateful and overtly racist conduct.”
The New York chapter and Pepe allegedly violated the trademark awarded to the church after failing to pay the multimillion-dollar judgment for vandalizing the property in late 2020. “Defendants’ continued and unauthorized use of the ‘Proud Boys’ trademark without payment of licensing or royalty fees dissipates the value of the trademark and violates the lien’s prohibition against the unauthorized dealing or disposition of the trademark,” the group of attorneys – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and Paul Weiss, representing Metropolitan wrote in the suit.
The church secured the rights to the group’s name in February 2025 after the Proud Boys paid only $1,500 of the judgment. Metropolitan was granted the rights in February 2025 and awarded the rights for the church to seize money that the group made through sales of items bearing the trademark.
Metropolitan has promoted the yellow and black color scheme on its website with look-alike shirts with lines like “Stay Proud, Stay Black.”
National Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who had his prison sentence pardoned by President Donald Trump after his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, proudly condemned the court’s initial ruling on the group’s trademark loss. During an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said, “I wipe my ass with it.”
RELATED CONTENT: Black Churches Can Apply For Grant To Preserve African American Heritage
