CABAL: Text messages reveal DC police lieutenant conspired with Proud Boys
Metropolitan DC Police Lieutenant Shane Lamond shared details of the department’s investigation into the Proud Boys’ role in the Capitol riot with leader Enrique Tarrio prior to the trial.
Evidence presented in the trial of members of the group for seditious conspiracy exposed messages between Tarrio and Lamond, revealing the longtime law enforcement officer keeping the far-right milita leader “in the loop.”
“Prosecutors in the high-profile trial showed messages between Tarrio, one of the five defendants, and Metropolitan Police Lt. Shane Lamond, suggesting Lamond kept Tarrio in the loop about the police department’s investigations into him and other Proud Boys.” – The Independent
According to reports, Lamond texted Tarrio multiple times in December 2020.
When the police lieutenant messaged the domestic terrorist about an “anonymous tip” taking responsibility for burning a Black Lives Matter flag, Tarrio replied that he’d done “more than that,” USA Today reported.
Shane Lamond – the D.C. Metropolitan Police Dept. Lieutenant who was passing inside info to the Proud Boys in advance of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/k6nF5DrQqw
— Don Lewis (@DonLew87) February 16, 2023
Multiple messages are believed to be deleted after failing to show up mid-conversation.
Tarrio messaged his troop after the communications with Lamond, telling fellow Proud Boy members that their leader “got the jump on the narrative.”
The conspiratorial domestic terrorist bragged to the group about having a “contact at DC Metro.”
“This stays in here,” Tarrio wrote.
On Christmas Day 2020, Lamond alerted Tarrio to the police department’s criminal investigation.
“They may be submitting an arrest warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s office,” the officer warned.
FBI Special Agent Peter Dubrowski – who shed light on the relationship between Lamond and Tarrio – told the jury that the communications between the duo were contradictory to what usually happens in a case like this.
Lt. Lamond has been on administrative leave since February of last year after the former head of the police department’s intelligence unit was suspected of his association with the group.
“Based upon my views of the concerns that have been raised,” MPD Chief Robert Contee III said. “It was my call to put this member on the current status.”
The disgraced law enforcement officer is expected to be called as a witness in the trial on the Proud Boys’ behalf.
Still, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, Lamond is poised to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Prior to the December Million MAGA March, the Metro PD superior informed Tarrio of where the Black Lives Matter protesters planned to stay in D.C., going so far as to ask his co-conspirator if Lamond should “let our uniformed officers know that or keep it to myself?”
It’s been rumored that some in law enforcement were complicit in the violent attack on the Capitol, and recent revelations that a high-ranking member of the police department tasked with investigating the worst assault on democracy in this country in over a century does little to ease those concerns.
The proof is in the pudding – or in this case, the messages.
Lamond faces charges of obstruction if prosecuted.
Original reporting by Ella Lee at USA Today.
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