Decorated police officer charged with tipping off Proud Boys leader

Prosecutors say Shane Lamond, 47, had been in touch with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio since July 2019.

Mr Lamond was charged with obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements to investigators.

The accused, of Stafford, Virginia, pleaded not guilty in court on Friday.

The obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while false statements can be punished by a sentence of up to five years each.

Mark Schamel, a lawyer for Mr Lamond, said the officer's role required him to contact extremist groups, "yet he does not, nor has he ever, supported their views".

"The jury will see the fallacy of these unfairly levied allegations when the evidence is presented," Mr Schamel said in a statement.

Mr Lamond, a lieutenant with the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), has been an officer for 24 years and supervised the force's Intelligence Branch.

The MPD said he was placed on administrative leave in February 2022, just a few months after he and hundreds of other officers received a "ribbon of valor" - a special award created to honour their work during the Capitol riot.

"We understand this matter sparks a range of emotions, and believe the allegations of this member's actions are not consistent of our values and our commitment to the community," the MPD said in a statement Friday, adding that an internal investigation would be opened into the case.

Prosecutors say Mr Lamond and Tarrio were in touch about Proud Boys activities from July 2019, and that the officer fed Tarrio information about police operations.

In December 2020, Tarrio burned a Black Lives Matter banner that had been stolen from a church. After police began investigating the incident, Mr Lamond sent Tarrio information about the case, including the fact that an arrest warrant had been issued, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Friday.

FBI agents later asked Mr Lamond about his interactions, and the officer allegedly gave false statements. At one point he claimed his conversations with Tarrio were "one-sided with just him telling me... what their plans were".

Instead, prosecutors allege, Mr Lamond was giving Tarrio confidential information.

Prosecutors say the police veteran also heard potentially useful information from Tarrio about Capitol riot suspects and Proud Boys operations, but did not pass it on to fellow officers.

The indictment details the extent of the communications between the pair, who allegedly exchanged hundreds of messages via text and chat app, at least 101 of which were deleted.

On 7 November 2020, shortly after news reports projected that Joe Biden had won the election, Mr Lamond texted Tarrio: "Hey brother, sad, sad news today. You all planning anything?"

Tarrio replied in the affirmative. The officer responded: "Need to switch to encrypted [chat]."

Their contacts continued after the riot.

"Of course I can't say it officially, but personally I support you all," the officer said in one message.

The messages were introduced into evidence during the trial of Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders for their actions on 6 January 2021.

Defence lawyers argued that Tarrio wouldn't have been in regular contact with a police officer if his group had been plotting a conspiracy to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.

But the jury convicted Tarrio and his co-defendants earlier this month for seditious conspiracy and other crimes after a months-long trial.

They will be sentenced later and could face decades in prison.

-bbc