Proud Boys chapters are in disarray following a Monday court ruling that stripped the organization of its name and branding
On Monday night, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ruled that the Proud Boys, a white supremacist organization formerly led by Enrique Tarrio, no longer controls the “Proud Boys” name nor its symbols without the consent of the historically Black Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Washington that its members vandalized during a violent pro-Trump rally in December 2020. GPAHE co-founder Heidi Beirich testified as an expert witness in the case, helping to seal the Proud Boys’ fate, who only weeks ago were ecstatic about Donald Trump’s mass pardons, which included many Proud Boys, of those involved in the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection attempt at the Capitol.
As a result of the ruling, Metropolitan AME, which successfully sued the Proud Boys for their hateful attack on the church, may now seize any revenue that the Proud Boys acquire from selling merchandise that includes their name and symbols, such as the black and yellow laurel leaves commonly pictured on their attire. This ruling serves as another gut-punch to the Proud Boys, who were largely decentralized since January 6, 2021, and have recently been mired in an internal conflict over the name and branding of the organization, with several chapters, falling under an umbrella group called the “Autonomous Proud Boys,” choosing to disavow Tarrio. Others stood by him after his pardon as the national organization, “Proud Boys USA.”
One thing the various Proud Boys chapters can agree on is their disdain for the ruling. Tarrio’s words after the ruling were vengeful, suggesting the church should have its non-profit status revoked and the presiding judge in the case be impeached.
The Autonomous Proud Boys made a post on their Telegram channel targeting the Church’s pastor, who is Black, publishing his picture and sarcastically announcing that they “would like to welcome our new chairman and trademark holder.” They blamed “the actions and incompetence of our former chairman and his inner circle,” meaning Tarrio, for the lawsuit and the court’s decision.
Autonomous Proud Boys and affiliated chat groups such as Ancient City Proud Boys and a public chat group posted vile racist memes of the pastor on a KFC bucket in Telegram posts, while numerous others have also made posts harassing him. The Hell Valley Proud Boys (based in Butte County, California), who are associated with the national group, issued a juvenile response to the ruling, saying “Go fuck yourselves,” “have fun getting nothing,” “FUCK BLM,” targeting the Black Lives Matter movement, and “cease and desist these nuts.”
A slew of negative responses from autonomous Proud Boys chapters and chat groups made their way across Telegram following these remarks by Tarrio and his allies. One commonly shared post was by Nicholas Ochs, former U.S. Marine and founder of the Hawaii Proud Boys, who said “I am very clear on the status of Enrique Tarrio: RAT,” referencing a term used to describe informants that work with law enforcement. The post was shared by the Vice City Proud Boys, Fort Wayne Proud Boys, Michiana Proud Boys, Sacramento Proud Boys, Detroit Proud Boys, Toledo Proud Boys, Arizona Proud Boys, Proud Boys New Jersey, and Proud Boys Ohio.
The Hell Valley Proud Boys appeared in disarray after the ruling, directing the messages “go fuck yourselves” and “have fun getting nothing” at the church Proud Boys members attacked in 2020 (Source: Telegram)
The only questions left for the remaining Proud Boys are what are they going to call themselves and who is going to take the reins? Tarrio, despite his previous lofty status within the organization, now faces a reputation within the Proud Boys’ ranks as a “fed,” short for “federal informant,” due to having served as an informant for law enforcement before the formation of the Proud Boys. Also, many Proud Boys members were experiencing feelings of betrayal because Tarrio’s lawyer blamed Trump for the January 6 attack during his trial. Meanwhile, despite the online bickering, the only noticeable difference between the Proud Boys USA (under Tarrio’s supervision) and the Autonomous Proud Boys appears to be that they have two separate websites. But both websites use similar branding, listing similarly phrased “philosophical” tenets, and above all, the same name, which they now no longer own.
The Proud Boys USA, under Tarrio (top), and the Autonomous Proud Boys (bottom) have remarkably similar website designs.
The core tenets of the Proud Boys USA (top), and the Autonomous Proud Boys (bottom) share many similarities.
Or perhaps, the real question is whether the Proud Boys even have an identity outside of their branding. If the existence of two Proud Boys organizations sparked such an internal division already, how will they be able to regroup without the infamy, not to mention fundraising ability, that comes with their name? Without a unifying leader, and with prominent members denouncing Tarrio, it’s a tall mountain to climb to unify Proud Boy chapters. Vocal members against Tarrio include well-documented neo-Nazis like Indiana chapter leader Brien James, who has been a member of numerous neo-Nazi groups regardless of the fact that the Proud Boys supposedly disavow this in their tenets under “anti-racism.” There is also Hawaii Proud Boys founder Nicholas Ochs, (who claims to no longer be a Proud Boy) whose post about Tarrio being a “rat” went viral on Proud Boys channels and was used as justification for the schism.
The Proud Boys find themselves at a crossroads. Tarrio faces a major battle to reclaim his once unified organization, knowing his image is perhaps irreparably tarnished. Meanwhile, the Autonomous Proud Boys face the same issue, albeit without the stardom amongst the far right that comes with Tarrio’s name and the endorsement of Trump, and with an extra challenge of bringing together chapters who are used to operating independently. It remains to be seen, with the loss of their name and logo, if the now divided organization can survive in some other form.
