Officer charged with mendacity about leaks to Proud Boys

By Michael Kunzelman, Lindsay Whitehurst and Alanna Durkin Richer | Related Press

A Washington, D.C. police officer was arrested Friday on costs that he lied about leaking confidential data to Proud Boys extremist group chief Enrique Tarrio and obstructed an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner within the nation’s capital.

An indictment alleges that Metropolitan Police Division Lt. Shane Lamond, 47, of Stafford, Virginia, warned Tarrio, then nationwide chairman of the far-right group, that legislation enforcement had an arrest warrant for him associated to the banner’s destruction.

Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days earlier than Proud Boys members joined the mob in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Earlier this month, Tarrio and three different leaders have been convicted of seditious conspiracy costs for what prosecutors mentioned was a plot to maintain then-President Donald Trump within the White Home after he misplaced the 2020 election.

A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Lamond on one rely of obstruction of justice and three counts of constructing false statements.

The indictment accuses Lamond of mendacity to and deceptive federal investigators once they questioned him in June 2021 about his contacts with Tarrio. The indictment additionally says Tarrio supplied Lamond with details about the Jan. 6 assault.

“Appears just like the feds are locking folks up for rioting on the Capitol. I hope none of your guys have been amongst them,” Lamond instructed Tarrio in a Telegram message two days after the siege.

“So removed from what I’m seeing and listening to we’re good,” Tarrio replied.

“Nice to listen to,” Lamond wrote. “In fact I can’t say it formally, however personally I assist you all and don’t wish to see your group’s title and repute dragged by means of the mud.”

Lamond is scheduled to make his preliminary courtroom look on Friday. He was positioned on administrative depart by the police power in February 2022.

Lamond, who supervised the intelligence department of the police division’s Homeland Safety Bureau, was liable for monitoring teams just like the Proud Boys once they got here to Washington.His legal professional, Mark Schamel, didn’t instantly reply to a telephone message in search of remark.

Schamel has beforehand mentioned that Lamond’s job was to speak with quite a lot of teams protesting in Washington, and his conduct with Tarrio was by no means inappropriate. His lawyer instructed The Related Press in December that Lamond is a “embellished veteran” of the police division and “doesn’t share any of the indefensible positions” of extremist teams.

The Metropolitan Police Division mentioned Friday that it might do an inside assessment after the federal case in opposition to Lamond is resolved.

“We perceive this matter sparks a variety of feelings, and imagine the allegations of this member’s actions usually are not constant of our values and our dedication to the neighborhood,” the division mentioned in a press release.

Lamond’s title repeatedly got here up within the Capitol riot trial of Tarrio and different Proud Boys leaders. Tarrio’s protection sought to make use of messages displaying that Tarrio was informing Lamond of the Proud Boys plans in Washington with a purpose to assist Tarrio’s claims that he was trying to keep away from violence, not create it.

Textual content messages launched at Tarrio’s trial appeared to indicate an in depth rapport between the 2 males, with Lamond incessantly greeting the extremist group chief with the phrases “hey brother.”

Tarrio’s legal professionals had wished to name Lamond as a witness, however have been stymied by the investigation into Lamond’s conduct and his lawyer’s rivalry that Lamond would declare Fifth Modification privilege in opposition to self-incrimination. The protection accused the Justice Division of making an attempt to bully Lamond into retaining quiet as a result of his testimony would damage their case — a cost prosecutors vehemently denied.

The indictment is the most recent signal the Justice Division is transferring ahead in instances in opposition to folks whose alleged conduct was uncovered within the huge Jan. 6 investigation, past the rioters themselves. Greater than 1,000 folks have been charged with collaborating within the assault on the Capitol, however investigators have additionally been analyzing broader efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine the 2020 election.

Prosecutors say Lamond and Tarrio communicated at the very least 500 occasions throughout a number of platforms about issues just like the Proud Boys’ deliberate actions in Washington over a roughly 12 months and a half.

Tarrio is anticipated to be sentenced in August. His lawyer, Nayib Hassan, declined to remark Friday on Lamond’s indictment, however mentioned he was “shocked and disgusted” that the federal government used data within the case in opposition to Lamond that Tarrio’s protection was not allowed to indicate jurors at trial.

Lamond started utilizing the Telegram messaging platform to present Tarrio details about legislation enforcement exercise round July 2020, a few 12 months after they began speaking, in accordance with prosecutors. By November of that 12 months, he was speaking about assembly Tarrio throughout an evening out.

In December 2020, Lamond instructed Tarrio about the place competing antifascist activists have been anticipated to be. Lamond, whose job entailed sharing what he discovered with others within the division, requested Tarrio whether or not he ought to share the data Tarrio gave him about Proud Boys actions, prosecutors mentioned.

Jurors who convicted Tarrio heard testimony that Lamond incessantly supplied the Proud Boys chief with inside details about legislation enforcement operations within the weeks earlier than different members of his group stormed the Capitol.