Prosecutors accuse a Washington DC police lieutenant of helping the Proud Boys and warning leader Enrique Tarrio about his impending arrest
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- Federal prosecutors allege a DC police lieutenant warned Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio of his impending arrest.
- The feds say Shane Lamond sent hundreds of messages to Tarrio and voiced his support.
- Lamond has been charged with obstruction of justice and providing false statements.
A police lieutenant in Washington, DC, has been arrested and charged with supporting the Proud Boys and warning the extremist group's leader Enrique Tarrio about his impending arrest, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors allege that Lt. Shane Lamond gave Tarrio confidential information about the police investigation into Tarrio burning a Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020.
According to the indictment, Lamond warned Tarrio on January 4, 2021 — two days before the Capitol riot — that there was a warrant out for his arrest in connection to the flag burning.
Tarrio then passed this information on to other Proud Boys members, according to the indictment. Despite the warning, Tarrio was arrested the same day.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment and the US District Court for the District of Columbia said there was no lawyer on file for Lamond yet.
Lamond and Tarrio sent hundreds of messages to each other between July 2019 and January 2021, prosecutors say.
Lamond also told Tarrio that he attempted to convince another police officer that the Proud Boys weren't racist and that the flag burning shouldn't be considered a hate crime, prosecutors say.
"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 said to Tarrio on January 8, 2021, four days after Tarrio was arrested, according to the indictment.
Lamond has been charged with one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of providing false statements; he is set to be arraigned on Friday.
Tarrio was convicted last month of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot. But the Proud Boys are still thriving despite recent prosecutions, with members focusing on targeting the LGBTQ community, specifically, drag performers, Insider previously reported.