WASHINGTON, D.C. NEWS – Historic Washington, D.C. church sues New York Proud Boys chapter over trademark use
Ananya Roy, News Writer
The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., has filed a federal lawsuit against the Hudson Valley chapter of the Proud Boys, accusing the group of illegally using its name and distinctive black-and-yellow wreath logo for online recruiting and merchandise sales. Filed on August 4 in the Southern District of New York, the case targets the chapter’s president, William Pepe, and 100 unnamed individuals. The suit marks the latest chapter in a five-year legal battle between the historically Black church and the far-right group, which escalated after Proud Boys members destroyed Black Lives Matter signs at two Washington, D.C., churches in 2020.
In 2023, a District judge awarded the church $2.8 million in damages for what the court called the Proud Boys’ “hateful and overtly racist conduct.” After the group paid only $1,500 of the judgment by February 2025, the court granted the church control over the Proud Boys’ name and symbols, along with the right to seize profits from any merchandise sales tied to the trademark. Since then, the church has incorporated the group’s yellow-and-black branding into its own materials and sold parody shirts with slogans like “Stay Proud, Stay Black” in an effort to repurpose the name toward a message of “love and humanity.”
In the new lawsuit, the church says it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Pepe demanding the Hudson Valley chapter halt all use of the Proud Boys name. Proud Boys leaders, including former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, whose Jan. 6 conviction was pardoned by President Trump, have dismissed the court’s rulings, with Tarrio telling Rolling Stone that he “wipes [his] ass with it.” As of Monday morning, the Hudson Valley chapter and its leaders had not responded in court. The case underscores an unusual legal twist: a civil rights–era church now holds the intellectual property of a group it once sued, aiming to redefine a controversial brand long associated with political violence.
