By Michael Kunzelman
A police officer accused of leaking confidential information to Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio became a “double agent” for the far-right extremist group after its members burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital, a federal prosecutor said Monday at the start of the officer’s trial.
Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond was a “Proud Boys sympathizer” who warned Tarrio about his impending arrest for the banner’s destruction and later lied to investigators about their communications, said the prosecutor, Joshua Rothstein.
“He knew the difference between right and wrong, and he knew it was a crime to lie to law enforcement,” Rothstein said during opening statements for Lamond’s trial.
Lamond, who was arrested in May 2023, is charged with one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson will decide the case after hearing testimony without a jury.
Ana Jara, one of Lamond’s attorneys, said describing the veteran officer as a Proud Boys sympathizer is inflammatory and “simply not true.” Jara said prosecutors are asking the judge to view “cherry-picked” messages between Lamond and Tarrio “in a vacuum” without the proper context.
“Context matters, especially in conversations,” Jara said.
Tarrio, who could be a key witness at Lamond’s trial, is serving a 22-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him and other Proud Boys leaders of seditious conspiracy charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The judge said Tarrio was waiting for the outcome of last month’s presidential election before deciding whether to testify at Lamond’s trial. President-elect Donald Trump, who repeatedly has vowed to pardon people convicted of Capitol riot charges, suggested he would consider pardoning Tarrio.
Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before Proud Boys members joined a mob’s attack on the Capitol. The Miami resident wasn’t at the Capitol when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building and interrupted the congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Tarrio was sentenced to more than five months in jail for burning the banner stolen from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and for bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the district.
Lamond, who met Tarrio in 2019, had supervised the intelligence branch of the police department’s Homeland Security Bureau. He was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington.
Lamond’s name repeatedly came up during Tarrio’s 2023 trial. The men exchanged hundreds of messages across several platforms, with Lamond frequently greeting Tarrio with the words “hey brother.”
Rothstein said Lamond provided Tarrio with “real-time updates” on the police investigation of the Dec. 12, 2020, banner burning. Tarrio, in turn, shared the updates with other Proud Boys members.
“This play-by-play information allowed the Proud Boys to be one step ahead of law enforcement,” the prosecutor said.
In a message to Tarrio on Dec. 25, 2020, Lamond said police investigators had asked him to identify Tarrio from a photograph. Lamond warned Tarrio that police may be seeking a warrant for his arrest.
Later, on the day of his arrest, Tarrio posted a message to other Proud Boys leaders that said, “The warrant was just signed.”
Lamond’s indictment accuses him of lying to and misleading federal investigators when they questioned him in June 2021 about his contacts with Tarrio.
“The defendant knew the truth, and he chose to lie anyway,” Rothstein said.
The indictment also says Tarrio and Lamond 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 you all and don’t want to see your group’s name and reputation dragged through the mud,” Lamond wrote.
Lamond, of Stafford, Va., was placed on administrative leave in February 2022.
The first government witness to testify at Lamond’s trial was Metropolitian Police Lt. Ahsan Mufti, who investigated the banner burning and obtained a warrant for Tarrio’s arrest.
Mufti said Lamond didn’t tell him that Tarrio had personally confessed to him that he had burned the banner. Mufti said that would have helped his investigation. However, Tarrio also publicly confessed to the crime on social media before his arrest.
On cross-examination, Mufti said Lamond helped him identify Tarrio’s image in a photograph and his voice on a podcast.
“He was in fact quite helpful?” defense attorney Mark Schamel asked.
“He was,” Mufti replied.
