The Proud Boys leader who learned of his upcoming arrest from a D.C. police lieutenant days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was in regular contact with the officer over the prior 15 months, according to evidence entered in federal court this week.
Enrique Tarrio, then chairman of the far-right extremist group, repeatedly shared outlines of members’ plans in D.C. and elsewhere at the request of Shane Lamond, a 22-year veteran of the D.C. police department, according to text exchanges read by Tarrio’s defense in his trial on seditious conspiracy charges with four other Proud Boys leaders.
Tarrio argues that his relationship with Lamond showed there was no Proud Boys conspiracy to oppose police or federal authority, or plan to disrupt Congress’s confirmation of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory on Jan. 6. Exchanges highlighted by the defense show Lamond forwarded his information to his D.C. police command, a Virginia State Police contact, and even U.S. Capitol Police.
But prosecutors say the bulk of the exchanges occurred long before the alleged conspiracy, triggered by Donald Trump’s call in mid-December 2020 for supporters enraged by his false and inflammatory claims that the presidential election was stolen to attend a “wild” rally in Washington as Congress met.
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U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly has previously said in court that other conversations between the officer and Tarrio cited by prosecutors revealed a “closeness” and “inappropriateness” that undercut Tarrio’s defense. The exchanges, the judge said, show how much the then-head of intelligence for the D.C. police was sharing with Tarrio, even as prosecutors allege Tarrio was hiding their actual intentions, particularly after a Proud Boys member was stabbed in Washington following another pro-Trump rally on Dec. 12, 2020.
Lamond remains under federal investigation for his exchanges with Tarrio. He has not been charged with a crime but has been unavailable to testify at the seditious conspiracy trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Tarrio’s defense secured prosecutors’ agreement to allow the jury to view the additional text exchanges Thursday in the ongoing trial.
Lamond’s attorney, Mark E. Schamel, has said that his client’s only contact with outside groups was part of his duties and that he stands against anyone engaged in criminal activity and those who support overturning a valid election. In an email, Schamel said, “To the extent that Lt. Lamond collected information from any group, he shared it with his colleagues at MPD and other police agencies. As it is clear from the evidence offered at trial, nobody told Lt. Lamond they were coming to DC to attempt an armed insurrection and he has done nothing to assist any of those who have harmed [our] great city.”
The 46 court exhibits center on about two dozen exchanges between the two men beginning Oct. 24, 2019, with Lamond asking, “Enrique, what’s going on brother?” and ending on Dec. 12, 2020, with Lamond confirming the Proud Boys plans at another pro-Trump rally in Washington that day. Amid the ensuing violence between Proud Boys and left-wing activists, several people were stabbed, and Tarrio was eventually arrested entering D.C. on Jan. 4, 2021, for his part in burning a Black Lives Matter flag stolen from a historic African American church.
Earlier, from November 2019 to September 2020, Lamond generally asked briefly about the Proud Boys plans in Washington and Richmond, and Tarrio tersely obliged, confirming or denying on a half-dozen instances. As the group’s activity increased, Lamond asked Tarrio about whether other high-profile individuals would join them, such as at a July 4, 2020, celebration in Washington. They also discussed Tarrio’s events elsewhere in the country, such as on Sept. 22, when ahead of a Proud Boys event in Portland, Ore., Lamond gave Tarrio the name of a law enforcement counterpart, a Washington County sheriff’s deputy serving on the FBI’s local Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Lamond and Tarrio remained on cordial terms through Election Day, talking about getting drinks after Tarrio did a “small pop up” event with fewer than 20 Black Republican club members near CNN’s offices in Washington.
“Perfect. I’m going to let SOD [Special Operations Division] know for their awareness so they don’t freak out,” Lamond replied. “And we def have to catch up for drinks before you leave.”
Lamond shared Tarrio’s tips with his superiors and law enforcement contacts. “Didn’t want to put this in email but just spoke with ET. He is coming this weekend and he expects approx 150-200 PBs for Saturday’s event,” Lamond told a Virginia State Police trooper ahead of a Nov. 14 Million MAGA March.
He told Tarrio their communications were for his own good — that the more the Proud Boys cooperated with police, the safer they would be. On Nov. 10, Lamond wrote to Tarrio: “That’s why I keep hitting you up for your plans. I don’t want you to think that I/we are keeping tabs on you guys, but the more details we have about your plans the better we can plan to keep separation between the groups [of demonstrators].”
But Lamond also seemed to conceal their dealings. “Need to switch to encrypted,” he wrote to Tarrio on Nov. 7, according to earlier messages played by the government, warning him: “Alerts are being sent out to LE that Parler accounts belonging to your people are talking about mobilizing and ‘taking back the country’. Getting people spun up.”
That day, according to the government, Lamond told a Pentagon security official, “Still no issues here. Some chatter about PB mobilizing and calling for violent action. Spoke with my source — totally fake news and taken out of context. Source is aware of gatherings in Michigan and Phoenix but calling for peaceful protest.”
Lamond repeated to D.C. police superiors on Dec. 19, “From my source about Jan. 6, if we do [come] it’ll be extremely small and not in colors. No-night march.” Lamond echoed the same on Jan. 1 to Capitol Police’s intelligence division head, Jack Donohue, saying: “Enrique and his ‘exec staff’ are coming dressed in all black but I think dressed up, not like antifa.”
Donohue did not rely entirely on Lamond’s information, Capitol Police have disclosed. “Supporters of the current president see Jan. 6, 2021, as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election,” Donohue’s division concluded a final threat assessment on Jan. 3. “This sense of desperation and disappointment may lead to more of an incentive to become violent. The targets of the pro-Trump supporters are not necessarily the counterprotesters as they were previously, but rather Congress itself is the target on the 6th.”
