Shane Lamond, a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department’s intelligence branch in the nation’s capital, was indicted Friday for one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements to police.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia alleges Lamond used his position to share confidential information with Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.
Tarrio was recently found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The Metropolitan Police Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for information on Lamond’s current employment status with the department.
The federal indictment alleges Lamond was in regular contact with Tarrio for almost two years, beginning in July 2019 and continuing to at least January 2021.
The two allegedly messaged each other at least 500 times, often using encrypted messaging apps like Telegram.
The indictment also alleges that Lamond and Tarrio would discuss planned Proud Boys activities in the D.C. area and Lamond would give Tarrio a heads-up about investigations into the group.
That included an investigation into the December 2020 burning of a Black Lives Matter flag in Washington, D.C., when the Proud Boys were holding rallies and protests in the city.
In early January 2021, Lamond told Tarrio that there was a pending arrest warrant for him for that flag burning, the indictment alleges. Tarrio was later arrested and sentenced to more than five months for the flag burning.
Lamond is set to be arranged later Friday. If convicted, he could face more than 40 years in prison.
This story originally appeared on NPR
