D.C. police lieutenant Shane Lamond has been placed on leave amid investigation into ties with Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio (shown) in front during a march in Washington, D.C.
File Photo by Gamal Diab/EPA-EFE
Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The D.C. police chief has placed a police lieutenant on leave amid an investigation of his alleged ties to the Proud Boys.
D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters Wednesday the lieutenant was placed on paid administrative leave as of Tuesday, but said he would not reveal the officer's name because it's an ongoing investigation.
Contee said his decision to place the officer on leave was based on his review of concerns "serious enough to collaborate with federal partners" in the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office.
NBC News and the Washington Post reported that officers have identified the lieutenant under investigation as Lt. Shane Lamond.
Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The D.C. police chief has placed a police lieutenant on leave amid an investigation of his alleged ties to the Proud Boys.
D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters Wednesday the lieutenant was placed on paid administrative leave as of Tuesday, but said he would not reveal the officer's name because it's an ongoing investigation.
Contee said his decision to place the officer on leave was based on his review of concerns "serious enough to collaborate with federal partners" in the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office.
NBC News and the Washington Post reported that officers have identified the lieutenant under investigation as Lt. Shane Lamond.
Law enforcement officials told the Post that Lamond, a 22-year veteran, allegedly had inappropriate contacts with Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, who described himself as a former chairman of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified Proud Boys as an extremist hate group, and federal officials have said it is an "extremist group with ties to White nationalism."
Tarrio told the Post his contact with Lamond was professional and included him notifying him in advance when Proud Boys planned to march in the district, and Lamond telling him the location of counterdemonstrators to avoid conflict.
D.C. counterprotesters previously told The Post that police stood by while Proud Boys violently attacked them, adding to the perception they were taking sides.
Though Tarrio was not at the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection, other Proud Boys members were there and have been arrested, and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced in December he would sue the Proud Boys and militia group the Oath Keepers over the attack.
Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol insurrection on charges of burning a Black Lives Matter banner, and was released last month after serving out a five-month sentence in jail. The court had also ordered him to stay out of the city while the case was pending.
"Though Mr. Tarrio was prevented from entering Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, he was allegedly involved in the Proud Boys' preparation for the events at the Capitol," the House select committee investigating the insurrection said.
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