The Department of Justice charged and arrested Shane Lamond, a former Washington DC police lieutenant, on Friday on an indictment that he obstructed an investigation and made false statements as well as leaked information to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of The Proud Boys.
Mr Lamond, 47, was indicted by a grand jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, Mr Lamond, who worked as a supervisor of the Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD)'s Homeland Security Bureau, was allegedly in "regular contact" with Mr Tarrio about The Proud Boys' activities in DC beginning in July 2019.
Using Telegram, Mr Lamond allegedly leaked information about law enforcement's investigations into the Proud Boys as well other police activity in Washington DC.
This included, supposedly, revealing confidential information to Mr Tarrio about law enforcement's investigation into the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020 like investigation updates.
However, when questioned by federal law enforcement officers in June 2021, Mr Lamond allegedly told officers he only communicated with Mr Tarrio to find out information without "tipping him off to the MPD investigation."
Several messages provided in the indictment show that Mr Lamond sent Mr Tarrio screenshots of messages he received from MPD detectives about the case and notified Mr Tarrio when police identified him.
When law enforcement issued an arrest warrant for Mr Tarrio in connection to the burning of the banner, Mr Lamond reached out to warn Mr Tarrio about the warrant as well.
Mr Tarrio later pled guilty to one count of destruction of property in connection to the banner burning.
According to the indictment, Mr Lamond and Mr Tarrio also exchanged messages about the January 6 attack on the Capitol in the weeks before and days after.
The indictment alleges that Mr Lamond did not disclose to federal law enforcement officers that Mr Tarrio revealed his plans to attend the event in Washington DC on January 6th.
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