A police officer in Washington, DC had apparently been communicating for
multiple years with the then head of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio.
And when he found out that the head of the Proud Boys was going to be arrested,
he leaked the information to him and then lied to investigators about that.
Probably in for a penny, in for a pound at that point, why not lie I suppose.
This is Shane Lamond, we're talking about, a 24 year vet and of the DC police and
then the department's head of intelligence,
a lot of leaking going on in the intelligence lately,
indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false
statements will be arraigned later on today in US District Court in Washington.
You can see there his official documents.
In any event, he had apparently begun communicating with Tarrio in July 2019 and
continued on until January of 2021.
That seems like an important month for some reason.
I don't remember exactly why.
But anyway, according to the indictment, they were in regular contact regarding
the Proud Boys planned actions, which included attending a Trump rally in DC.
So we have worried since the events of January 6 about potential behind
the scenes dealings or communications between law enforcement and
those who had done the rioting.
There had been a lot of actions that were taken on that day by law enforcement that
seemed at least suspicious.
This might not be linked to literally any of that, but
it is worrisome at the very least.
And here's an idea of how strong their relationship actually was.
Between July 2019 and January 2021, they communicated at least 500 times using
cloud based messaging services like Google Voice, Apple, iMessages, and Telegram.
By the way, Telegram is encrypted and also has the ability to destroy messages
automatically, and it appears like more than 100 of those messages were destroyed.
In any event, back on December 18 of 2020,
Lamond revealed information about the investigation to
the burning of a Black Lives Matter flag after a rally in DC.
And on January 4th,
as Tarrio was on a flight from Miami to Washington Reagan National Airport.Lamond
sent Tarrio notice that a warrant had been signed.
Now, Tarrio eventually pleaded guilty to destruction of property and attempted
possession of a high capacity ammunition magazine when he returned to Washington.
And as a result, he wasn't actually there with the Proud Boys on January 6th.
So we have more details, and obviously we'll have to talk about this, but
it's one of the big fears that we have raised over the last few years that
gets poo pooed by members of the right wing media, by Republican politicians.
The idea that there could be people in the police force,
in the armed forces that don't necessarily have the interests of democracy or
the people foremost in their minds.
>> Yes, there's two parts of this story in my mind, and
I think the most interesting part is the things that this guy caused and
then the reaction of his police department afterwards.
All right, so he tipped off Tarrio to not only that he was going
to be arrested, which already is enormous, enormous.
And that you're gonna see it as reverberating consequences, but
he tipped him off to evidence that the cops had Tarrio.
Not only that, he told him to delete the evidence, [LAUGH] I mean,
it doesn't get any worse than that, right?
And he's the head of intelligence for the DC police.
So he's getting the intelligence and then giving it to this right wing group who's
planning an insurrection against the government, and
he's giving them hints on how not to get arrested, right?
And then he's saying, the other cops are asking me about you guys, so
make sure you're getting rid of the evidence, etc.
I mean, it's as bad as it can get, right?
Except for the fact that when he told him he's going to get arrested,
he then went and told the rest of the Proud boys, Tarrio did.
And then the Proud Boys start writing in their messages, then F the blue, okay?
And so when they go on January 6, because he got the warning just a couple of days
before January 6, cuz he was gonna get arrested right before January 6 for
that flag situation that John told you about, right?
So then the Proud Boys get all riled up against the cops cuz of this cop who was
head of intelligence in the DC Police Bureau, he basically betrayed his own,
he betrayed everyone, he betrayed the government.
Because of that, he was put on leave February of 22.
I looked into it, paid leave.
And he's been on paid leave till today when he still didn't get fired,
he got an indefinite suspension.
That guy who might have even gotten other cops killed was
on paid leave for like a year and a half.
Paid leave, as a cop, apparently, there's nothing you can do that'll get you fired.
Nothing, including handing all of the evidence over to the criminals,
unbelievable.
Except, unfortunately, in America, very believable.
Meanwhile, every day in America and every day this week,
I see right wingers crying all over social media,
the government is picking on us, we're the victims.
Are you insane?
The government has been helping the right wing for my entire lifetime.
It is a preposterous proposition that the big government tough guys are out to get
conservatives.
You don't know any history,
you don't know 1% history if you make outrageous claims like this.
Guys like this are far more the norm than the exception.
Max.
>> That's absolutely right, I mean, there is a reason that every single
Republican member of the House voted to oppose an effort for a federal probe into
white supremacy and neonazism in police departments and the military.
It's because they knew what we were going to find.
It's not a secret, the Department of Homeland Security says it's a threat,
the FBI says it's a threat.
And we see every day seemingly stories of police officers, members of the military
who are exposed as white nationalists, as senior officials in neonazi groups.
And the only people standing in the way of holding
them accountable are the Republicans who need their votes.
>> By the way, the people of DC paid this guy's salary.
So the people that he endangered, by the way,
very largely African American population, has to pay that guy.
Had to pay that guy full well, knowing he's a traitor, and helped criminals,
and helped attack our government.
No, because a cop, no, no, no, always have to pay a cop.
Cops are the most sacrosanct thing in the whole wide world.
And now the right wing has this ludicrous conspiracy theory the cops,
the FBI law enforcement are all left wingers.
Since when?
But yet, that maniacal theory is believed by almost 100% of the right wing.
>> Yeah, let me give you some more of the background details.
We've hinted at a little bit of this, but
he said at one point, we don't have access to the vast majority of those many,
many, many messages that were sent over a couple of years between Lamond and Tarrio.
But he said at one point, this is on January 8, so
the immediate aftermath of January 6 country is still reeling.
And he says this, of course, I can't say it officially, but personally,
I support you all and don't wanna see your group's name or
reputation dragged through the mud.
Yeah, it would be bad if that happened.
But again, if anyone was dragging their name through the mud, I feel like their
members should deserve some acknowledgment for their efforts in that area.
We're two days out from this riot, people have died already, and
his concern is that some of the people who might have been in the area could
potentially get in trouble, that's his concern.
His concern wasn't that dozens and dozens of cops were in the hospital, or
at least that's not what he was saying to them.
I really hope that you guys had nothing to do with the actual violence, because I've
been communicating with you for years, and that would be a massive betrayal.
If there were messages like that, we haven't seen them yet.
Perhaps they're forthcoming, but in any event, he says,
cuz there has to be a defense now, of course.
This is back in February,
his attorney said that his client did nothing to aid the riders.
And look, so far, we haven't seen anything that's specifically about helping out
people who were rioting on January 6, or
at least I haven't seen anything like that, so that seems fair.
But was, quote,
only communicating with these individuals because the mission required it.
He added that Lamond was instrumental to Tarrio's arrest and that there is
no legitimate law enforcement officer who is familiar with the facts of this case,
who would opine otherwise.
Obviously, a lot of people don't agree with that.
Michael Fanone, by the way, notably having that horrific experience on January 6,
says, this wasn't just ineptitude and poor decision making,
there was a level of betrayal.
Yeah, look again, there seems to be nothing directly linking him to
assisting in the writing that was going on on January 6.
But to say that he was only communicating because the mission required it,
which part of the mission was it that required you to message him,
saying, by God, I hope you guys get through this without getting in trouble.
Is that part of the job?
It seems like support, it seems like some sort of ideological overlap there and
instrumental to the arrest, you tipped him off to it.
He was still arrested anyway, I suppose that's true, but attempted ruining
an arrest is not instrumental to it, you just were inept at what you were doing.
>> Yeah, here, look, let me give you a paragraph here from Huffington Post to
give you a sense of how much he helped Tarrio.
According to the indictment, Lemond kept Tarrio abreast about whether law
enforcement had video or images of him during the destruction of the Banner.
So that's the thing he was arrested on originally.
It also alleges that as Tarrio traveled to Washington on January 4th, 2021,
that's two days before the ride, obviously.
Lamond warned Tarrio that a judge has signed an arrest warrant for him, but
didn't tell his colleagues inside MPD that Tarrio knew about the warrant.
He was arrested without incident as he entered the city that day.
He tells the guy, hey, other cops are coming to get you.
That could put the cops lives in danger, they're lucky that it didn't, right?
And then Tarrio tells all of his co-conspirators that are going
there two days later, January 6.
Like I said, the cops are coming to arrest me.
They get super riled up and decide to attack the cops.
To me, that is aiding and abetting what happened on January 6, and
it is obviously aiding and abetting Tarrio as he leaks evidence against them,
the arrest warrant against them, etc.
So, no, I don't think this case is close at all, at all.
I know with a cop you have to prove it beyond 400% reason, right?
And there can't be any doubt at all and the beloved freaking cops.
But no, he's constantly feeding him evidence behind the scenes to help him cuz
he's a right wing fascist wannabe.
I don't know what his political leanings are in terms of whether he's
literally a fascist or not, but he's helping this quasi fascist organization
in every imaginable way behind the backs of his fellow officers and
getting them endangering their lives for his far right propaganda.
By the way, hey, right wingers who think the FBI and law enforcement is so
liberal these days, can you name one cop we have ever caught leaking
information to the left wing or to Black Lives Matter, one?
Never, I've never heard of a single case of it, never.
Guys, left wingers, let me help you out.
I'm with the government, and I'm with the cops, and I'm with law enforcement.
Left wingers, I'll leak you information,
make sure you're okay, zero cases in American history.
You right wingers who think that the government is against you,
and the cops are against you, and the FBI is against you,
when they help you in every imaginable way.
Please get a sanity check.
>> To your point, also, we could do a hypothetical for this.
I am willing to bet and feel free to send in messages,
we're gonna be responding to some in the break.
Check Fox right now and see if they're talking about this.
I have a feeling they're probably not.
If he had been communicating with antifa,
do you think they would find time to cover it?
>> It's a great question.
>> I mean, come on.
>> And by the way, right wingers, please, please learn 1% of American history.
How many right wingers were executed by the FBI, NCIA?
Zero, zero.
How many left wingers were executed?
Dozens and dozens.
The FBI is left wing, on which planet?
Please go buy a clue while you're busy.
I hope I don't interrupt your insurrection and
treason plans while you're looking up 1% of American history.