WASHINGTON — A historic black church in D.C. that now controls the “Proud Boys” trademark sued a New York chapter of the group this week to block it from selling merchandise and clothing under the name.
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church says the Hudson Valley Proud Boys Chapter and its president, William Pepe, have violated the trademark awarded to the church in February after the Proud Boys failed to pay a multimillion-dollar judgment for vandalizing the property in late 2020. Its lawsuit claims the chapter has continued to use the Proud Boys name in recruitment efforts, on its website and on merchandise and clothing still being sold online.
“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,” attorneys for the church wrote.
According to the church, neither Pepe nor the Hudson Valley Proud Boys Chapter responded to a cease-and-desist letter sent in June. Metropolitan AME now wants a court order directing the group to turn over any proceeds from merchandise sales and barring the group from using the trademark in the future. The church says any further use of the trademark by the group will undermine its efforts to redeem the name.
“The Church… 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 says.
Multiple members of the Hudson Valley Proud Boys Chapter, including Pepe and his former co-defendant Dominic Pezzola, were charged with participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Pepe was convicted by a judge in October on five counts, including civil disorder and evidence tampering, but was never sentenced due to President Donald Trump’s clemency order ending the Capitol riot prosecutions. Pezzola, who used a stolen police riot shield to create the first breach of the Capitol, was convicted in 2023 of multiple felonies alongside other leaders of the group and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released from federal prison in January after Trump commuted his sentence to time served.
The church is being represented in its lawsuit by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and Paul Weiss, one of the law firms targeted by Trump via executive order earlier this year. That order was dropped after Paul Weiss agreed to provide the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services to support the administration’s priorities.
