By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-24 18:22:35 | Updated at 2024-12-25 06:54:35
12 hours ago
An ex-Washington, DC, cop was convicted Monday of trying to cover up leaking confidential information to ex-Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021.
Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson found former Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond guilty of all four counts of obstructing justice and making false statements after a seven-day bench trial.
Lamond, 48, of Colonial Beach, Va., is slated to be sentenced April 3 and faces up to 45 years behind bars, though he is likely to get a far lighter penalty under federal sentencing guidelines, which would take into account the fact that he has no prior arrests.
The feds said Lamond worked as a “double agent,” feeding then-Proud Boys national Chairman Tarrio a tip about the fact law enforcement had a warrant for his arrest for allegedly previously burning a Black Lives Matter banner. He also allegedly gave Tarrio “real-time updates” about the probe.
Lamond testified in his own defense, claiming he never gave Tarrio — whom he met in 2019 — confidential information about the investigation..
Tarrio corroborated these claims when he testified he never told Lamond about burning the banner and that Lamond never gave him sensitive police intel.
But Jackson ripped the testimony of both men, calling Tarrio an “awful witness,” adding he acted “flippant, grandiose and obnoxious” while on the stand.
The judge said that evidence, including the pair’s message exchanges for months, proved that they would talk and then “Tarrio immediately disseminates what he learns.”
Lamond’s lawyer, Mark Schamel, said he and his client have yet to decide whether to appeal the ruling but added that it is “unbelievably disappointing” that Lamond’s actions were viewed “through a lens to make it appear to be something other than it was.
“There is nothing disloyal about him at all, and it’s a sad day for him,” the lawyer said in statements to the press outside court after the verdict.
Tarrio had pleaded guilty to burning the BLM banner, which was stolen from a historic black church in downtown DC on Dec. 12, 2020.
He was later sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Lamond, under the intelligence branch in the department’s Homeland Security Bureau, was in charge of watching extremist groups such as the Proud Boys when they came into the nation’s capitol. He retired after 23 years of service in the force in May 2023.
In addition to allegedly giving Tarrio warning about his arrest for the BLM banner, he also messaged with Tarrio after Jan. 6 about whether the group would be prosecuted.
“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,” the former cop wrote.
Still, Lamond said he was upset by prosecutor’s claims he backed the group, testifying at trial: “I don’t support the Proud Boys, and I’m not a Proud Boys sympathizer.”
He claimed that he kept a friendly rapport with Tarrio to gain his trust and maintain him as a source — not because he was a friend.
With Post wires
