Seeks ban on use of name it owns

A historic Black church in Washington, D.C., awarded rights to the name and logo of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys 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 Proud Boys 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 pardoned in January by President Donald 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 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.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Proud Boys members "embrace misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies, among other forms of hate, including antisemitism and white supremacy."

Despite the February order, which prohibits the Proud Boys from "selling, transferring, disposing of or licensing" the name without the church's permission, Metropolitan AME 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 respond to requests 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 AME 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 was scheduled for sentencing on 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 the Proud Boys' money. The church initially sued Proud Boys International on Jan. 4, 2021 - two days before the Cap...