Seeks ban on use of Proud Boys name it owns
A historic Black church in Washington, D.C., that was awarded rights to the name and logo of the white supremacist Proud Boys following a lawsuit is suing the Hudson Valley chapter and its president, a former Beacon resident.
In a federal lawsuit filed Aug. 4, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church accuses the Hudson Valley chapter and Will Pepe of “unlawful and ongoing infringement” of its right to control use of the organization’s name. Pepe is one of over 1,000 people found guilty of invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and later pardoned by President Trump.
A federal judge awarded those rights to the church in February when the Proud Boys ignored a $2.8 million judgment over a December 2020 attack on the church while hundreds of its members rallied in the city in support of President Donald Trump and his unsubstantiated claims that he won the 2020 presidential election.
Some Proud Boys, roving the city during a “night march,” jumped over Metropolitan’s iron fence to tear down and destroy its Black Lives Matter sign.
Despite the February order, which prohibits the Proud Boys from “selling, transferring, disposing of or licensing” the name without the church’s permission, the church says the Hudson Valley chapter continues to use the name on websites it and other New York chapters created, and on clothing, hats and other merchandise sold online.
Metropolitan said Pepe has not responded to a cease-and-desist letter sent in June to a Long Island address, as well as requests that he provide information on the chapter’s use of the name and the amount of revenues from members’ dues and merchandise sales. Pepe, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through the New York Proud Boys’ website, lived in Dutchess County until June 2025, according to court documents.
The church said it wants to “evolve” the Proud Boys name to become “associated with the church’s mission of love and humanity, rather than white supremacy, hatred and violence.” In February, it introduced two limited-edition T-shirts replicating the logo with the slogans “Stay Proud, Black Lives Matter” and “Stay Black, Black Lives Matter.”
“It is justice. It is karmic,” the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, the church’s pastor, told The Washington Post in February. “It is our victory in a long line of victories.”
Metropolitan was one of two Black churches in D.C. whose Black Lives Matter signs were destroyed on Dec. 12, 2020, by Proud Boys in support of Trump’s challenge to the election results. Weeks later, on Jan.6, 2021, protesters broke into and ransacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s win.
Police arrested Pepe six days later, accusing him, as president of the Hudson Valley chapter, of coordinating with other Proud Boys by radio and removing a police barricade. A federal judge found Pepe, who was fired from his job with Metro-North in Brewster, guilty in a bench trial on Oct. 23, 2024, of a felony (obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder) and four misdemeanors.
He scheduled sentencing for March 21 but, just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump issued “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to more than 1,500 men and women charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol.
Declaring his inauguration “liberation day,” Trump, also commuted the sentences of 14 people associated with the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers and convicted of seditious conspiracy for mounting an organized, military-like assault. Because they did not receive pardons, they will continue to face restrictions such as a ban on voting and owning firearms.
Metropolitan AME is chasing their money. The church initially sued Proud Boys International on Jan. 4, 2021 — two days before the Capitol attack — for destruction of property, theft and trespassing. The judgment in that lawsuit has grown to $3.1 with interest and attorney’s fees, but remains “almost entirely unpaid,” according to court documents.
To collect the judgement, the church sued Proud Boys International again in July 2024 to gain the rights to its name, which it considers the group’s “only known valuable asset.” That lawsuit led to February’s trademark decision.
In response to the judge’s order, the Proud Boys posted a video in which an unidentified man reads an “official statement”: This fraternity has decided to embrace our former legal adversary in a step forward in healing our society. … We announce that the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church is now the official church of the Proud Boys, fraternity of men.”
