A Hennepin County judge is ordering a group to stop performing and advertising security services, siding with the state board in its lawsuit against the unlicensed company. 

Now, clearly on its new website, it states, “Men In Black is not a licensed Protective Service Agency.”

That statement is a requirement from the judge’s ruling. 

“I think it’s a vindication of consumer rights [and] consumer protection,” Rick Hodsdon, chair of Minnesota’s Private Detective & Protective Agent Services, said. 

Hodsdon’s board is the one who filed the lawsuit against the company once known as Men In Black Security LLC — they had been investigating the company after it failed to get a license through the board due to its owner’s past weapon conviction. 

“They simply went ahead and continued to practice anyway and provide security functions to advertise, to get contracts, to bid on contracts,” Hodsdon said. 

RELATED: Men In Black Security countersues state board, claiming defamation, loss of business

The judge’s ruling outlines several of those instances, including as their license application was pending, Men In Black worked at a local university wearing “tactical gear with ‘MIB Security’ printed on them and carried what MIB describes as ‘non-lethal weapons.'”

It also highlights social media posts about hiring “security guards” and “security officers.” The court documents also point out the group working “crowd control” several times. 

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS first reported on the unlicensed company early last year as it lost a $650,000 deal with the City of Brooklyn Park to do its violence interruption work due to the state investigation. 

Throughout that bid, and through the lengthy legal battle with the state, Men In Black has claimed it’s “merely ‘a de-escalation services business.'”

Still, the judge ruled that despite the company’s effort to “recharacterize it’s action, each of its signed contracts in the record qualify as engaging in protective agent services.”

For Hodsdon, he feels this has been a long time coming that he hopes has a lasting impact. 

“The judge clearly found labels about what you’re doing isn’t what’s important. What’s important is, what is it you’re actually doing? And those are important precedents,” Hodsdon said. 

As of the posting of this article, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS was still working to get a response from Men In Black. 

You can view the lawsuit between the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Service and Men In Black Security below.