DC police included in Proud Boys January 6 plan email ahead of Capitol riot

A senior DC police officer is accused of improperly communicating with the leadership of Proud boys was reproduced on a series of emails and conference call invitations related to planning Pro-Trump rally on January 6, 2021, the emails show.

Lieutenant Shane Lamond, an officer in the DC police intelligence branch, is on administrative leave pending an investigation into his connections to Enrique Tarrio, the Washington Post first report. Tarrio is a former leader of the far-right paramilitary group Proud Boys, and president of the organization at the time of the January 6 riots. The nature of Lamond’s alleged connection to Tarrio is unknown. clear. But public documents show that Lamond’s official duties assigned him to oversee events that would later involve the Proud Boys, including planning the rally that led to the Capitol riots. .

Neither Lamond nor Tarrio responded to requests for comment. A spokesman for DC police declined to comment, directing The Daily Beast to a news conference Wednesday where DC Sheriff Robert J. Contee III announced Lamond’s suspension.

Contee did not name Lamond at the press conference, noting that he is “very limited in what I can say”. Contee said the FBI and Justice Department have begun investigating the officer. Contee said his department is also investigating, and that he laid off the employee this week “based on my assessment of what we know so far.”

Tarrio said to parcel that Lamond acted as the Proud Boys’ official DC police liaison. Tarrio claimed that he notified Lamond when his group was planning to hold protests in the city, and that Lamond informed the Pride Team of the location of the protestors.

“He was just a liaison officer when we held rallies,” Tarrio told parcel, adding that “I just told him, ‘We’re going to town and we’re going to have this protest.’ That’s as far as the relationship has gone. “

Lamond’s work as an intelligence officer appears to have put him in regular contact with far-right protesters, including those who planned the January 6 demonstrations that later This would become an attack on the Capitol. Law enforcement emails, made public as part of an investigation into the riots, show that Lamond copied some messages about the upcoming protest.

Some of those messages from Secret Service members to senior DC police officers, informing them of Donald Trump’s plans to attend the rally. Other messages between the rally organizers and the National Park Service, regarding the details of the event. In both cases, Lamond was among the few DC police officers who were copied across the chats.

On at least one occasion, Lamond was invited to a conference call or Microsoft Teams meeting to discuss an upcoming demonstration. The plan emails also include attachments (not included in the public documents) with names like “All Out of Bubble Gum Site Plan.pptx.” (“I’m here to kick my ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m out of bubbles” is one quote-turn-meme from the 1988 movie Live.)

During Wednesday’s press conference, Contee declined to answer a reporter’s question about whether the investigation into Lamond involved him passing information related to January 6 to the Proud Boys. Contee said: “I can’t say that. “I didn’t know that was true.”

Police liaisons for far-right groups have previously come under close scrutiny for their communications with those organisations. A Portland, Oregon police liaison for the Patriot Prayer group was investigated for potential misconduct in 2019, after he message with group leader suggest a friendly relationship. In those texts, Lieutenant Jeff Niiya told the leader of the Patriot Prayer Foundation that he did not want to arrest Patriot Prayer member Tusitala Toese, even if Toese had an open warrant. “Just make sure he doesn’t do anything that might get our attention,” Niiya wrote of Toese. Niiya also told the leader of the group where leftist organizations were protesting. Niiya is the year of 2019 was unjustly erased.

Tarrio said to parcel that Lamond had passed on similar information about the locations of the protests, ostensibly to prevent clashes between the two factions. But, as parcel of note, the Proud Boys are frequently accused of finding left-wing protesters for street brawls. DC police have previously accused the group of instigating fights with people they believe are anti-fascist.

Lamond is currently on paid administrative leave, although his salary may be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, Contee said on Wednesday.