WASHINGTON — A retired police officer in the nation’s capital was convicted Monday of lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the leader of the extremist group Proud Boys.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted former Metropolitan Police Lt. Shane Lamond of obstruction of justice and making false statements after a non-jury trial.
Sentencing was scheduled for April 3, following Lamond’s conviction on all four counts.
Lamond was accused of leaking information to former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was under investigation at the time for burning a Black Lives Matter banner.
Tarrio eventually pleaded guilty burn the banner stolen from a historic black church in downtown Washington in December 2020.
He was later sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, part of what prosecutors called a plot to use violence to keep Donald Trump in the White House after the 2020 election.
Lamond, who met Tarrio in 2019, had overseen the intelligence division of the police department’s Homeland Security Bureau. He was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington.
Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before the January 6 siege. The Miami resident was not at the Capitol when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building and interrupted the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Lamond testified at his trial that he never provided Tarrio with sensitive police information. Tarrio, who testified said as a witness for Lamond’s defense that he had not confessed to Lamond that he had burned the banner and that he had not received any confidential information from him.
But prosecutors said the evidence showed Lamond tipped off Tarrio that a warrant had been signed for his arrest.
“Similarly, the defendant affirmatively informed Mr. Tarrio in a written message that he was being asked to identify him for a warrant, a warning that was clearly in anticipation of the subsequent prosecution and with clear consequences therefor,” prosecutors wrote.
Lamond’s criminal complaint states that he and Tarrio exchanged messages about the Jan. 6 riot and discussed whether Proud Boys members were in danger of being charged in the attack.
“Of course I can’t say it officially, but personally I support all of you and don’t want your group’s name and reputation to be dragged through the mud,” Lamond wrote.
Lamond said he was angry because a prosecutor labeled him as one Proud Boys “sympathizer” who acted as a “double agent” for the group after Tarrio burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020.
“I do not support the Proud Boys, and I am not a Proud Boys sympathizer,” Lamond testified.
Lamond said he considered Tarrio a resource and not a friend. But he said he tried to build a friendly relationship with the group leader to gain his trust.
Justice Department Prosecutor Joshua Rothstein pointed to reports suggesting Lamond Tarrio provided “real-time updates” on the police investigation into the December 12, 2020 banner burning.
Lamond, 48, of Colonial Beach, Virginia, was charged with one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements. He retired in May 2023 after 23 years of service in the police force.