Dem
47
GOP
53
Enrique Tarrio is a felon and an outspoken bigot. And these days, he is hanging out at Mar-a-Lago and plotting a run for political office. "I think my future is in politics. I think I'm going to take a serious look at running for office at some point, in 2026 or 2028, and I believe that there is a path for that, because it is my passion, you know?" If that is not an indictment of the Trumpublican Party, we don't know what is. Normal Republicans deplore racism and lawlessness, but not the MAGA Militia.
There is one small fly in the ointment, however. It won't necessarily stop Tarrio from pursuing his aspirations, but it will make it a wee bit trickier. His fame, and with it his potential base of support, comes from his having been the leader of the Proud Boys. Undoubtedly, he would like to use that in campaign materials. However, he will not be able to do so because, as of this week, the name "Proud Boys" belongs to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church of Washington, DC (MAMEC).
How, exactly, did that happen? Well, the incident that sent Tarrio to prison (for what was supposed to be 22 years) was a Proud Boys attack on MAMEC that he led. The head bigot, and his bigoted followers, scaled the walls of the church and commenced an extensive campaign of vandalism, including tearing down a Black Lives Matter banner. This came immediately after Tarrio and his goons attended a Donald Trump rally.
While the criminal judgment against Tarrio may be in abeyance, the civil judgment against him and his co-defendants is still in effect. They owe $2.8 million to MAMEC, and have paid $0.0 million of that. So, the Church went to court and asked for ownership of the Proud Boys name, as partial satisfaction of the judgment. Superior Court of the District of Columbia Judge Tanya Jones Bosier (a Joe Biden appointee, in case you are wondering) was pleased to grant the request.
This means that if Tarrio endeavors to use the Proud Boys name to promote himself, to raise funds, to run for office, etc., he is infringing on MAMEC's intellectual property. And do you think they will be satisfied just to send him a cease-and-desist letter? We don't. The Church's lawyers are going to run to court so fast, it will produce a dust cloud like in those old Road Runner cartoons. There will be no expectation of recovering any damage; the purpose will be to create headaches for Tarrio (and possibly to get him sent to prison for contempt of court). It will be at least some small amount of payback for the violent behavior of a racist a**hole. (Z)