WASHINGTON — The former head of DC Police’s intelligence branch begins trial Monday on charges alleging he tipped off the leader of the far-right Proud Boys about an ongoing investigation into him and then lied to the FBI about their contacts.
Lt. Shane Lamond was placed on leave in 2022 over questions about his relationship with the Proud Boys’ leader following the indictment of Tarrio and four other members of the group on seditious conspiracy charges. He was indicted last May on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, all felonies. Tarrio and his co-defendants were convicted that same month on a multitude of charges in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Tarrio was sentenced last September to 22 years in prison – the longest sentence handed down yet in any Capitol riot case.
The charges against Lamond stem not from the Capitol riot, however, but an earlier investigation into the Proud Boys’ burning of a Black Live Matter flag stolen from the Asbury United Methodist Church in D.C. following a rally in support of former President Donald Trump in December 2020. Tarrio eventually pleaded guilty to burning the flag and possession of two large-capacity magazines and was sentenced to five months in prison.
Prior to his arrest, prosecutors say Lamond was passing along confidential police information about the investigation to Tarrio and tipped him off that a warrant was being prepared. Lamond is also accused of failing to provide his superiors with information he received from Tarrio, including that Tarrio had admitted his involvement in the flag burning to him. Lamond also allegedly told Tarrio he’d persuaded the department not to pursue hate crimes charges in connection to the incident.
“If anything I said it’s political but then I drew attention to the Trump and American flags that were taken by antifa and set on fire,” Lamond wrote in a message to Tarrio on Dec. 18, 2020. “I said all those would have to be classified as hate crimes too.”
Between Dec. 18, when Tarrio admitted to the flag burning, and Jan. 4, when he was arrested, prosecutors say he and Lamond communicated via a messaging application with self-destruct timers at least 145 times. Of those, they said, at least 101 messages were destroyed.
After Jan. 6, prosecutors say Lamond used his law enforcement contacts to get a list of the people being questioned in connection to the Proud Boys’ role in the riot and voiced his support to the group to Tarrio.
“Of course, I can’t say it officially, but personally I support you all and don’t want to see your group’s name or reputation dragged through the mud,” Lamond wrote on Jan. 8, 2021.
During Tarrio’s four-month trial last year, his attorneys repeatedly held up his communications with Lamond as evidence that he intended to cooperate with law enforcement. Tarrio’s attorney had hoped to call Lamond as a key witness in his defense, but were unable to do so after his attorney informed them he would invoke his right against self-incrimination due to the, at the time, ongoing investigation.
As of Tuesday, it remained to be seen whether similar issues would prevent Lamond from calling Tarrio at his trial. Earlier this year, Lamond’s attorney, Mark E. Schamel, said he had been interviewing Tarrio about his potential testimony.
“In talking to him, his testimony is compelling and very important,” Schamel said at the time.
A previous trial date was vacated over Tarrio’s availability, and questions about Tarrio taking the stand as a witness were part of the reason for a sealed hearing in the case in September. Tarrio, who had been serving his sentence at a federal facility in Kentucky, was moved to FCI Petersburg in Hopewell, Virginia, earlier this year in advance of his expected testimony at a since-vacated October trial.
Questions about whether Tarrio will testify were not purely logistical. In January, when Schamel first suggested he might call the former Proud Boys leader, federal prosecutors warned he could potentially be opening himself up to additional obstruction and conspiracy charges related to the investigation into the flag burning. Lamond’s attorney said it seemed like the Justice Department was trying to keep Tarrio off the stand.
“There’s no mention of charging Mr. Tarrio,” Schamel said of the three-year-old investigation. “It’s never come up. And all of a sudden he’s going to be a defense witness and there are potential charges.”
U.S. District Judge Amy B. Jackson, who is presiding over Lamond’s case, expressed skepticism about what potential liability Tarrio could face on the stand. She made it clear nothing about the events of Jan. 6 would be coming into the trial.
Federal prosecutors have previously said they expected their case against Lamond to take as long as two weeks, although that was prior to him waiving his right to a jury and opting instead for a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Amy B. Jackson. Schamel has identified dozens of potential witnesses who might be called as part of the defense case, including at least two unnamed members of the media he has said would testify they informed Tarrio about the warrant for his arrest prior to his arrival in D.C. on Jan. 4, 2021.
Lamond’s bench trial was set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday in D.C. District Court.