A Black church in Washington, D.C., now owns the trademark identify to the Proud Boys after the violent group did not pay $2.8 million in a civil judgment when the group vandalized the church.
Members of the all-male Proud Boys audaciously filmed themselves breaching the property of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church within the nation’s capital in 2020, in the course of the pinnacle of the Black Lives Matter motion.
As soon as the members climbed the fence, they destroyed the Black Lives Matter flag and different gadgets on the church.
The Black church sued the Proud Boys and gained
The pastor of the church, Rev. William H. Lamar IV, instantly sought authorized recourse and sued the Proud Boys, who had posted their act of vandalism on the platform previously referred to as Twitter.
When the church gained the lawsuit in opposition to the Proud Boys and the group defied the court docket order to pay the church practically $3 million, the church then returned to the court docket to sue the Proud Boys for rights to their identify.
The Proud Boys punished for refusing to pay the civil go well with
Decide Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the Superior Courtroom of the District of Columbia granted them the identify of the alt-right group that many classify as racist and violent.
The Black church makes cash when the Proud Boys increase income
The court docket judgment signifies that the Proud Boys are not allowed to make use of their very own identify for functions of fundraising or income era with out the permission of the Metropolitan AME Church. And once they do earn cash, the income stream can be legally rerouted to this Black church.
“That is our time to face up, to be very clear to the Proud Boys and their ilk that we got here right here preventing, that we have now by no means ever capitulated to the violent whims of White supremacist teams,” Lamar advised CBS MoneyWatch. “In the event that they thought we might be afraid, they had been flawed. There are numerous folks with us and who stand with us.”
The New York Instances famous that the judgment in opposition to the Proud Boys comes simply after Donald Trump gained reelection and formally returned to the White Home on Jan. 20. Trump additionally pardoned former Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio, who was serving 22 years for sedition when he and his group violently stormed the U.S. Capitol constructing on Jan. 6, 2021.
Proud Boys shocked by the court docket’s ruling
Due to this fact, this judgment comes as a shock to the Proud Boys who thought they may get away with defying court docket orders, significantly with an alleged ally again within the Oval Workplace.
“From our standpoint, it’s becoming that the cash the Proud Boys raised in gross sales and dues will go to fund the nice work of the Metropolitan AME,” legal professional Kaitlin Banner advised CBS Information. Banner represented the church court docket and at the moment serves as deputy authorized director on the Washington Legal professionals’ Committee for Civil Rights and City Affairs.
The Metropolitan AME Church is just not solely historic — it was based in 1838, earlier than the Civil Conflict — it is vitally distinguished. The church has hosted iconic audio system, together with Frederick Douglass and former first woman Eleanor Roosevelt, the spouse of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
With the court docket’s ruling any cash raised by way of gross sales of merchandise will enrich the coffers of the Black church they violated in 2020.