Former D.C. police officer sentenced to 18 months for lying about leaking info to Proud Boys leader

WASHINGTON — A retired police officer was sentenced Friday to 18 months behind bars for lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the Proud Boys extremist group’s former top leader, who was under investigation for burning a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital.

Shane Lamond was a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., when he fed information about its banner burning investigation to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio.

Last December, after a trial without a jury, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted Lamond of one count of obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements.

Tarrio attended Lamond’s sentencing and later called for President Trump to pardon Lamond.

“I ask that the Justice Department and the president of the United States step in and correct the injustice that I just witnessed inside this courtroom,” Tarrio said outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Prosecutors had recommended a four-year prison sentence for Lamond.

“Because Lamond knew what he did was wrong, he lied to cover it up — not just to the Federal Agents who questioned his actions, but to this Court,” they wrote. “This is an egregious obstruction of justice and a betrayal of the work of his colleagues at MPD.”

Lamond’s lawyers argued that a prison sentence wasn’t warranted.

“Mr. Lamond gained nothing from his communications with Mr. Tarrio and only sought, albeit in a sloppy and ineffective way, to gain information and intelligence that would help stop the violent protesters coming to D.C. in late 2020, early 2021,” they wrote.

Tarrio pleaded guilty to burning the banner stolen from a historic Black church in downtown Washington in December 2020. He was arrested two days before dozens of Proud Boys members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio wasn’t at the Capitol that day, but a jury convicted him of orchestrating a violent plot to keep Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election.

Lamond testified at his bench trial that he never provided Tarrio with sensitive police information. Tarrio, who testified as a witness for Lamond’s defense, said he did not confess to Lamond about burning the banner and did not receive any confidential information from him.

But the judge said she did not find either man’s testimony to be credible.

Lamond retired in May 2023 after 23 years of service to the police department. Prior to that he 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.

Prosecutors said Lamond tipped off Tarrio, whom he had met in 2019, that a warrant for his arrest had been signed. They pointed to messages that suggest Lamond provided Tarrio with real-time updates on the police investigation.

Lamond’s indictment said he and Tarrio 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 said he was upset that a prosecutor labeled him as a Proud Boys “sympathizer” who acted as a “double agent” for the group after Tarrio burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020.

“I don’t support the Proud Boys, and I’m not a Proud Boys sympathizer,” Lamond testified.

Lamond said he considered Tarrio to be a source, not a friend. But he said he tried to build a friendly rapport with the group leader to gain his trust.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.