The Proud Boys, a white nationalist group whose members were instrumental in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, lost control of its own name to a historic Black church. On Monday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Bosier stripped the extremist group of control over the trademark “Proud Boys” and barred them from selling any merchandise with the name or its symbols without permission of the new owners, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, that Proud Boys members vandalized in 2020, the New York Times reported. The church, which won a $2.8 million default judgment against the group in June 2023, also may have the option to try seizing any money the Proud Boys may make from merchandise such as hats and t-shirts. Florida former leader Enrique Tarrio slams decision The organization’s former leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio of Miami, issued a “lengthy statement,” the New York Times said, calling for the judge to be impeached and for the church to lose its nonprofit status. “Their actions are a betrayal of justice,” he wrote. “I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me.” Tarrio, who was named in the initial $2.8 million judgment against the Proud Boys after he and other members of the group jumped the fence of two churches in Washington, D.C., pulled down Black Lives Matter banners and burned them, publicly acknowledged burning another banner that prosecutors said was stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church. The ruling was a default judgment issued after the Proud Boys failed to show up in court to defend themselves, The Associated Press reported. Tarrio was recently pardoned of a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riots, along with nearly 1,600 others. Several members of the Proud Boys in Florida were charged in the Jan. 6 riots. Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs of Ormond Beach was not pardoned for seditious conspiracy but instead saw his 17-year prison sentence commuted. One group of Proud Boys that was singled out to spearhead the assault included Gilbert Fonticoba and Gabriel Augustin Garcia of Miami.
via yahoo: Proud Boys lose name’s trademark to members of Black Washington church. Florida leader reacts