US Cop Charged for Allegedly Helping Proud Boys

A police intelligence unit leader in Washington, DC is facing criminal charges for allegedly leaking confidential information to the leader of the far-right Proud Boys group. Lieutenant Shane Lamond of the Metropolitan Police Department is accused of tipping off Enrique Tarrio about an arrest warrant and leaking other law enforcement information related to an investigation into the burning of a “Black Lives Matter” banner stolen from a church in the US capital. Lamond, who supervised the Intelligence Branch of the police department’s Homeland Security Bureau, also made false statements to federal law enforcement agents about his communications with Tarrio. He faces one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, with a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Lamond has been on administrative leave since February 2022, and his lawyer has not yet commented on the allegations. The indictment reveals that Lamond and Tarrio had been in regular contact since 2019, with prosecutors disclosing text exchanges between the two after the 2020 presidential election. Tarrio pleaded guilty to charges related to the Black Lives Matter banner case and was sentenced to five months in prison in 2021. He and other members of the Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case this month related to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.