Metropolitan Police Division Lt. Shane Lamond’s communication with the previous chief of the Proud Boys elevated and grew extra secretive as stress to arrest him mounted in 2020, prosecutors mentioned Tuesday.
Lamond is accused of warning Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former nationwide chair, that police had been investigating whether or not he burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner and later lied about their conversations. His trial started earlier this week, and Lamond has pleaded not responsible.
Prosecutors introduced proof that Lamond’s communication with Tarrio primarily happened over iMessage earlier than Dec. 12, 2020 — the day of the banner burning. However after that, Lamond took their conversations over to the encrypted chat service Telegram, the place the 2 exchanged personal and secret messages.
Non-public messages on Telegram are encrypted after they’re transmitted to a server, whereas secret messages are encrypted earlier than, including a further layer of safety that blocks even Telegram itself from accessing these messages.
A number of of the key messages between Lamond and Tarrio had been set to self-destruct upon receipt. FBI agent Elizabeth Hadley, who testified about their exchanges, mentioned 40 % of the 209 secret Telegram messages between the boys after Dec. 12 weren’t recovered.
Beginning after the 2020 election, Lamond repeatedly warned Tarrio that the right-wing extremist Proud Boys had been “attracting attention” of legislation enforcement and “getting people spun up.” On Nov. 7, 2020, when the presidential race was known as for President Biden, Lamond urged switching to encrypted messaging.
“Just giving you a heads up,” Lamond wrote to Tarrio in a Nov. 7, 2020, personal chat on Telegram. “Please keep this between you and me.”
“Always,” Tarrio replied.
Prosecutors additionally confirmed proof that Lamond would change between iMessage and Telegram when chatting with Tarrio, suggesting he saved conversations that weren’t handed alongside to his superiors for the extra protected messaging format.
Nonetheless, protection attorneys famous that Lamond repeatedly supplied legislation enforcement with updates about his communication with Tarrio all through the period of their supply relationship, from October 2019 to January 2021.
Lamond forwarded data from Tarrio to a number of legislation enforcement officers within the D.C. Metropolitan Police Division, U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Secret Service and state police in Maryland and Virginia. Mark Schamel, certainly one of Lamond’s attorneys, contended there was “no break” in passing alongside the intelligence he collected.
“With the exception of those deleted messages,” Hadley interjected on cross-examination.
A number of messages set to self-destruct concerned particulars about legislation enforcement’s investigation into Tarrio, which led to his arrest on Jan. 4, 2021.
Lamond advised Tarrio he was requested to establish the Proud Boys chief and mentioned it possible meant an arrest warrant was being ready. When an arrest warrant was signed, he notified Tarrio — who was midflight on his approach to D.C., already anticipating to be arrested, prosecutors mentioned.
Tarrio is ready to take the stand in Lamond’s protection as quickly as Wednesday. Schamel, Lamond’s legal professional, mentioned the previous Proud Boys nationwide chair can be the protection’s first witness when the federal government rests its case.
Tarrio is at present serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy in reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault. The ex-Proud Boys chief was not on the Capitol that day resulting from journey restrictions imposed by his arrest days earlier.
Lamond and Tarrio communicated greater than 600 instances throughout a number of platforms all through their supply relationship, in accordance with the federal government. Throughout Tarrio’s Jan. 6 trial, his attorneys tried to make use of their relationship as proof the group was not engaged in prison exercise.
In opening statements of Lamond’s trial Monday, prosecutors accused the police officer of performing as a “double agent” for the far-right extremist group and giving them “real-time updates” on the investigation into Tarrio.
“This play-by-play information allowed the Proud Boys to be one step ahead of law enforcement,” prosecutor Joshua Rothstein mentioned, in accordance with The Related Press.
Lamond is charged with one depend of obstructing justice and three counts of constructing false statements. He faces as much as 30 years in jail for the obstruction cost and as much as 5 years in jail for every false assertion cost.
The police lieutenant was positioned on administrative depart in February 2022.
Prosecutors are anticipated to relaxation their case Wednesday afternoon, at which level Tarrio is slated to take the stand.
