A former DC police chief has been convicted for alerting Proud Boys’ leader before the Capitol attack, raising serious concerns about police integrity.
Lamond was charged because Tarrio was wanted for burning a Black Lives Matter banner at the time. Now, Tarrio is serving a hefty 22-year sentence for his role in the Capitol riot. He was actually arrested just two days before the attack when he flew into Washington from Miami.
During the trial, Tarrio mentioned he wanted to get to Washington to “get this over with” and even thought about using his arrest as a “marketing ploy.” Pretty wild, right?
Lamond faced four counts, including obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. The trial featured some pretty intense testimony from Tarrio, who claimed he was lying to his Proud Boys buddies about getting info from a source in the police department.
Back in May 2023, a federal grand jury charged Lamond for obstructing the investigation into that banner burning incident. Prosecutors painted him as a “double agent” for the Proud Boys, claiming they communicated over 500 times through messaging apps, including 101 disappearing messages on Telegram.
Lamond’s defense argued that his chats with Tarrio were part of his job, but the prosecution showed he had a soft spot for the Proud Boys. He even said he didn’t want their reputation tarnished and tried to convince others in the police that they weren’t racist.
After the Capitol attack, Lamond and Tarrio kept chatting. Tarrio even said he thought he could have stopped the whole thing. It’s a tangled web, for sure.
Interestingly, a recent report found that 26 FBI informants were in DC during the January 6 protests, with some even entering the Capitol. It’s a lot to unpack, and it raises questions about what really went down that day.
As for Lamond and Tarrio, it’s uncertain if they’ll be among the many defendants Trump has promised to pardon if he returns to the White House. Trump has said he plans to act quickly on that front, but who knows what will happen?