Suggesting he was getting intel from inside law enforcement about investigations into himself and other in the far right group, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was tipped off by a lieutenant in the Washington DC Metropolitan Police about the warrant issued for him and his impending arrest, USA Today reports.
Shane Lamond, a leader of the DC Metro police intel squad, had previously been suspended from his position, but court documents show he was passing information to Tarrio and others. Lamond and Tarrio had a series of text messages in which Lamond asked if Tarrio had called in an anonymous tip claiming credit for burning a Black Lives Matter from a historic Black church in December 2020. Tarrio responded, “I did more than that,” and attached social media postings reportedly showing him burning the banner.
In later messages, Tarrio told other members of the Proud Boys that he got information about the investigation from his contact “in DC intel,” telling his members, “This stays here,” because of the sensitivity of the contact. From Christmas through Tarrio’s arrest, Lamond and Tarrio exchanged messages about the arrest warrant being issued. On the day of Tarrio’s arrest, the messaging app shows settings were changed to self-destruct the messages between the pair.