A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Lamond on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements. A magistrate judge ordered Lamond\u2019s release from custody after he pleaded not guilty to the charges during his initial court appearance Friday.<\/p>\n
- \n
- \u2013\u00a0Proud Boys’ Tarrio guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy<\/a><\/li>\n
- \u2013\u00a0EXPLAINER: The seditious conspiracy charges in Jan. 6 trial<\/a><\/li>\n
- \u2013\u00a0Jan. 6 takeaways: Final revelations from investigation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The indictment accuses Lamond of lying to and misleading federal investigators when they questioned him in June 2021 about his contacts with Tarrio. The indictment also says Tarrio provided Lamond with information about the Jan. 6 attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks like the feds are locking people up for rioting at the Capitol. I hope none of your guys were among them,\u201d Lamond told Tarrio in a Telegram message two days after the siege.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far from what I\u2019m seeing and hearing we\u2019re good,\u201d Tarrio replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat to hear,\u201d Lamond wrote. \u201cOf course I can\u2019t say it officially, but personally I support you all and don\u2019t want to see your group\u2019s name and reputation dragged through the mud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamond was placed on administrative leave by the police force in February 2022.<\/p>\n
Lamond, who supervised the intelligence branch of the police department\u2019s Homeland Security Bureau, was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington.<\/p>\n
Lamond declined to comment. His attorney, Mark Schamel, released a statement Friday saying, \u201cLt. Lamond is a decorated officer whose position required contact with extremist groups who sought to undermine our democracy on January 6th, yet he does not, nor has he ever, supported their views.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schamel added that \u201cthe jury will see the fallacy of these unfairly levied allegations when the evidence is presented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schamel has previously said that Lamond\u2019s job was to communicate with a variety of groups protesting in Washington, and his conduct with Tarrio was never inappropriate. His lawyer told The Associated Press in December that Lamond is a \u201cdecorated veteran\u201d of the police department and \u201cdoesn\u2019t share any of the indefensible positions\u201d of extremist groups.<\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Police Department said Friday that it would do an internal review after the federal case against Lamond is resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand this matter sparks a range of emotions, and believe the allegations of this member\u2019s actions are not consistent of our values and our commitment to the community,\u201d the department said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Lamond\u2019s name repeatedly came up in the Capitol riot trial of Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders. Tarrio\u2019s defense sought to use messages showing that Tarrio was informing Lamond of the Proud Boys plans in Washington in order to support Tarrio\u2019s claims that he was looking to avoid violence, not create it.<\/p>\n
Text messages introduced at Tarrio\u2019s trial appeared to show a close rapport between the two men, with Lamond frequently greeting the extremist group leader with the words \u201chey brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tarrio\u2019s lawyers had wanted to call Lamond as a witness, but were stymied by the investigation into Lamond\u2019s conduct and his lawyer\u2019s contention that Lamond would claim Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The defense accused the Justice Department of trying to bully Lamond into keeping quiet because his testimony would hurt their case \u2014 a charge prosecutors vehemently denied.<\/p>\n
The indictment is the latest sign the Justice Department is moving forward in cases against people whose alleged conduct was uncovered in the massive Jan. 6 investigation, beyond the rioters themselves. More than 1,000 people have been charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol, but investigators have also been examining broader efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Lamond and Tarrio communicated at least 500 times across several platforms about things like the Proud Boys\u2019 planned activities in Washington over a roughly year and a half.<\/p>\n
Tarrio is expected to be sentenced in August. His lawyer, Nayib Hassan, declined to comment Friday on Lamond\u2019s indictment, but said he was \u201cshocked and disgusted\u201d that the government used information in the case against Lamond that Tarrio\u2019s defense was not allowed to show jurors at trial.<\/p>\n
Lamond began using the Telegram messaging platform to give Tarrio information about law enforcement activity around July 2020, about a year after they started talking, according to prosecutors. By November of that year, he was talking about meeting Tarrio during a night out.<\/p>\n
In December 2020, Lamond told Tarrio about where competing antifascist activists were expected to be. Lamond, whose job entailed sharing what he learned with others in the department, asked Tarrio whether he should share the information Tarrio gave him about Proud Boys activities, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Jurors who convicted Tarrio\u00a0heard testimony that Lamond frequently provided the Proud Boys leader with internal information<\/a>\u00a0about law enforcement operations in the weeks before other members of his group stormed the Capitol.<\/p>\n
Less than three weeks before the Jan. 6 riot, Lamond warned Tarrio that the FBI and U.S. Secret Service were \u201call spun up\u201d over talk on an Infowars internet show that the Proud Boys planned to dress up as supporters of President Joe Biden on the day of the inauguration.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Later, on the day of his arrest, Tarrio posted a message to other Proud Boys leaders that said, \u201cThe warrant was just signed.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
By Michael Kunzelman, Lindsay Whitehurst and Alanna Durkin Richer
\nDurkin Richer contributed to this story from Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/p>\nSource: \u00a0
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