Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was arrested on the day Metropolitan A.M.E.'s lawsuit was filed, appeared in court on Friday without a lawyer. Tarrio has until April 30 to respond to the claims filed against him personally. Proud Boys International, LLC did not appear in court and had a default judgment entered against them.

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under, an advocacy group representing the historic Black church, announced both developments following a hearing on Friday morning before D.C. Superior Court Judge Heidi Pasichow, whom the lawyers say issued her ruling of default from the bench.

"Today's ruling was a victory in favor of decency and against violent racism," the committee's acting president and executive director Damon Hewitt wrote in a statement. "The lawsuit was filed with the purpose of holding the Proud Boys and their leadership accountable for their campaign of racist violence, which they perpetrate with impunity. We will continue to move forward with this case to ensure justice is served so that the Proud Boys and similar groups are put on notice that they are not above the law."

Rev. William H. Lamar, IV, the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church's pastor, added that the Proud Boys "share the white supremacist DNA of so many groups that came before them."