By Sharelle B. McNair
August 12, 2025
Enrique Tarrio, leader of the national proud boys, condemned the court's first decision on the group's trademark and said during an interview: “I wipe my ass with it.”
The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, a historic Black Institution in Washington, DC, has submitted a lawsuit against the New York chapter of the White Nationalist Group The Proud Boys
In a lawsuit before the Federal Court in the southern district of New York, Metropolitan AME accused the Hudson Valley Proud Boys Chapter, President William Pepe and 100 “John do” against brand injuries for the use of the name and the black and yellow wreath logo in online recruitment efforts and sales. The church sent Pepe a ceasefire letter and demanded that the chapter no longer use the name of proud boys in its communication.
While the group continues to deny connections to white suits, Metropolitan tries to “develop the name of the” proud boys “in order to be associated with the mission of the love and humanity of the church, and not with white supremacy, hatred and violence, and changes and improves the goodwill, which has been inherited there.”
The lawsuit is just another dent in the five-year battle between the group and the church from December 2020, when the proud boys destroyed in two historically black churches after a Pro-Donald-Trump-Rallye Black Lives Matter characters. According to Wusa 9, a DC judge of the church gave compensation for $ 2.8 million and condemned the proud boys for their “hateful and openly racist behavior”.
The New York Chapter and Pepe Allegedly Violated the Trademark Awarded to the Church Afer Failing to Pay the MultiMillion Dollar Judgment for Vandalizing the Property in Late 2020. ”Defendants' Continued and Unauthorized Use of the 'Proud Boys' Trademark Withy Without Licensing Or Royalty Fees Dissipates The Value of the Trademark and Violates The Lien's Prohibition Against The Unauthorized Dealing Or Disposition of the Market Candy ”, The Lawy Control – Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights according to legal rights, the Washington lawyer Committee for Civil Affairs, and Paul Weiss wrote in the action.
The church secured the rights to the name of the group in February 2025 after the proud boys had only paid 1,500 US dollars of the judgment. Metropolitan was granted in February 2025 and granted the rights for the church to confiscate money that the group achieved by selling objects with the trademark.
Metropolitan has the yellow and black color scheme on its website with look-alike shirts with lines such as “proudly, they remain black.”
For the first time I saw the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church version of the proud boy shirt in the wilderness since they gained the complaint that gave them the trademark. Please note the Black Lives Matter in the lower area https://t.co/f7ke9zazzd pic.twitter.com/uavzjjrpnf
– Dr. Only Golbeck (@jengolbeck) June 14, 2025
The national proud boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who had pardoned his prison sentence of President Donald Trump after his participation in the Capitol Riot on January 6, proudly condemned the first decision of the court on the group's trademark. During an interview with the Rolling Stone Magazine, he said: “I wipe my ass with it.”
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