Gateway Pundit Premieres Film Featuring Proud Boys Members

Who attended the West Palm Beach premiere of American Martyrs?

The film presentation featured five prominent Proud Boys figures: chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. In reality, the actual fifth member convicted as part of the “seditious five” was Jeremy Bertino, not Pezzola. Bertino pleaded guilty and testified against the others during their trial. Despite appearing on Tarrio’s Substack podcast in August 2025 to seek re-entry into the group, Bertino was excluded from the film’s lineup of martyrs. Tarrio received a full presidential pardon, while Nordean, Biggs, Rehl, and Pezzola had their sentences commuted by executive order on January 20, 2025. The event, held less than four miles from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, drew figures including Rudy Giuliani, Michael Flynn, George Santos, and Lara Logan.

How did the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church acquire the Proud Boys trademark?

Tarrio lost the ability to capitalize on Proud Boys merchandising after a D.C. Superior Court judge awarded the brand to a historically Black church following a years-long legal battle. On the night of December 12, 2020, masked Proud Boys had marched through Washington, D.C., and stolen a “#BlackLivesMatter” banner from the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (MAME) church, which they subsequently destroyed in the street. MAME sued Tarrio and Proud Boys International just two days before the January 6 attack. On February 3, 2025, the court reached a default judgment transferring all of Proud Boys International’s interests in the trademark to the church. By early 2025, MAME became the sole entity legally permitted to sell official Proud Boys merchandise, re-branded to signify Black pride with proceeds directed toward the church’s community justice fund.

What legal penalties face remaining Proud Boys chapters using the brand?

In April 2025, MAME tested its hold on the intellectual property by suing the Hudson Valley Proud Boys in the Southern District Court of New York for unauthorized usage of the branding and merchandising. The court issued a default judgment against the chapter on April 8, awarding the church $75,000 for trademark infringement and nearly $200,000 in attorney’s fees. Despite these legal victories, recovering the full judgment amount remains a prolonged struggle. Court documents indicate that defendants have paid approximately $7,800 toward the multi-million dollar judgments. MAME has continued pursuing assets by obtaining a default judgment against the alternative fundraising platform GiveSendGo and placing a lien on funds paid to Tarrio by the federal government.

Why did the organization drop its traditional branding at public events?

Tarrio’s personal apparel and promotional materials now feature his streaming outfit, “War Boys,” alongside merchandise bearing his name. The shift away from the legacy branding follows both the legal transfer of the trademark to MAME and ongoing court enforcement against chapters that continue to display the prohibited insignia.