A Washington DC police officer was arrested on Friday on charges that he lied about leaking confidential information to Proud Boys extremist group leader Enrique Tarrio and obstructed an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital.
An indictment alleges that Metropolitan police department lieutenant Shane Lamond, 47, of Stafford, Virginia, warned Tarrio, then national chairman of the far-right group, that law enforcement had an arrest warrant for him related to the banner’s destruction.
Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before Proud Boys members joined the mob in storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Earlier this month, Tarrio and three other leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors said was a plot to keep the then president, Donald Trump, in the White House after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Lamond on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements.
The indictment accuses Lamond of lying to and misleading federal investigators.
Lamond is expected in court on Friday and is on administrative leave.
Lamond, who supervised the intelligence branch of the police department’s Homeland Security Bureau, was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys.
His attorney, Mark Schamel, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.
Schamel has previously said that Lamond’s job was to communicate with a variety of groups protesting in Washington, and his conduct with Tarrio was never inappropriate and said his client “doesn’t share any of the indefensible positions” of extremist groups.
The Metropolitan police department said it would do an internal review after the federal case against Lamond is resolved.
Lamond’s name repeatedly came up in the Capitol riot trial of Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders.
Messages introduced at Tarrio’s trial appeared to show a close rapport between the two men, with Lamond texting “hey brother”.
Tarrio’s lawyers had wanted to call Lamond as a witness, but were stymied by the investigation into Lamond.
Lamond used the Telegram messaging platform to give Tarrio information about law enforcement activity around July 2020, according to prosecutors.
In December 2020, Lamond told Tarrio about where competing antifascist activists were expected to be.
Jurors who convicted Tarrio heard testimony that Lamond frequently provided the Proud Boys leader with internal information about law enforcement operations before Proud Boys stormed the Capitol.
Source: Elections - theguardian.com
