Lt. Shane Lamond, a former member of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington D.C., was found guilty on Monday of lying to law enforcement officials about giving the leader of the Proud Boys information before the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Lamond, 49, the former supervisor of the Intelligence Branch of the MPD, cultivated a close relationship with Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, prosecutors in D.C. said.
That close relationship was put to use leading up to January 6, 2021, when Lamond tipped off Tarrio that a warrant was out for his arrest for setting fire to a Black Lives Matter banner during a 2020 protest. When investigators later asked Lamond about this, he lied.
“As proven at trial, Lamond turned his job on its head—providing confidential information to a source, rather than getting information from him—lied about the conduct, and obstructed an investigation into the source,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in a press release.
District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson found Lamond guilty of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, after a seven-day bench trial.
“The intelligence gathering role that Lamond was supposed to play is critical to keeping our community safe. His violation of the trust placed in him put our community more at risk and cannot be ignored,” Graves added.
The Proud Boys are a far-right militant organization that shares white supremacist views and engages in political violence. The group is designated a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand.
Various members of the group, including Tarrio, participated in storming the Capitol on January 6 in support of Donald Trump who had lost the 2020 election.
Trump has expressed sympathy for the Proud Boys. Memorably the president-elect told them to “stand back and stand by” when asked if he rejected their values.
Prosecutors said Lamond and Tarrio were in “regular contact” beginning in July 2019 but that their contact became more discreet, moving conversations over to Telegram, after the 2020 election.
In December 2020, Lamond gave Tarrio confidential information related to an investigation into the burning of a BLM banner. Weeks later, Lamond told Tarrio a warrant was out for his arrest.
During the bench trial, Lamond’s lawyers tried to argue his relationship with Tarrio was for “source” purposes. Tarrio appeared as a defense witness during Lamond’s trial.
However, Judge Berman Jackson disputed that – pointing to conversations in which Lamond shared the status of police and FBI investigations as well as sympathizing with the Proud Boys message.
Lamond will be sentenced on April 3, 2025.
