{"id":2647232,"date":"2026-08-20T07:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-dc-police-officer-fights-conviction-over-contact-with-ex-proud-boys-leader\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T07:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:35:24","slug":"former-dc-police-officer-fights-conviction-over-contact-with-ex-proud-boys-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-dc-police-officer-fights-conviction-over-contact-with-ex-proud-boys-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Former DC police officer fights conviction over contact with ex-Proud Boys leader"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-dc-police-officer-fights-conviction-over-contact-with-ex-proud-boys-leader%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2647232&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former Washington, D.C., police lieutenant Shane Lamond is appealing his federal conviction for obstructing an investigation and making false statements related to leaking facts to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio during a 2020 Black Lives Matter banner burning case. His appeal argues that the charges, based on his communications with Tarrio, should not apply before charges or judicial proceedings commenced, and criticizes the use of internal MPD policies as legal grounds. Lamond was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to 18 months but has been released and is on home confinement pending the appeal. His case is notable because it remains active despite broader Jan. 6 prosecutions largely ending with President Trump\u2019s pardons for many defendants, although Lamond\u2019s charges are technically unrelated to the Capitol riot. His attorneys contend the evidence was insufficient and that the goverment overreached, highlighting that Lamond helped investigators identify Tarrio and provided information useful to the arrest. Lamond is also seeking a presidential pardon, and his case could reach a D.C. Circuit panel early next year.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost all of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\">Biden administration<\/a>\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jan-6-2\/\">Jan. 6<\/a> prosecutions disappeared after President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> returned to office and issued sweeping pardons for more than 1,000 defendants. But one unusual case involving a former Washington, D.C., police lieutenant remains a live issue in federal court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cadc.42171\/gov.uscourts.cadc.42171.01208879965.0.pdf\">filed his final appellate brief<\/a> on Wednesday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn his Biden-era conviction for obstructing an investigation and lying to federal agents about his communications with former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4693457\/last-j6-case-former-dc-officer-fighting-conviction-proud-boys-contact\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>The last Jan. 6 case? Former DC police officer fighting conviction over contact with ex-Proud Boys leader<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4692877\/federal-court-strikes-down-biden-era-atf-ghost-gun-restrictions\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Federal court strikes down Biden-era ATF ghost gun restrictions<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4692701\/no-trump-influence-behind-86-47-prosecution-of-james-comey-doj\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>No Trump influence behind \u201986 47\u2032 prosecution of James Comey: DOJ<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">Washington Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond departs federal court after pleading not guilty to obstruction of justice and other charges, Friday, May 19, 2023, in Washington. Lamond is accused of lying about leaking confidential information to a leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and obstructing an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/08\/localimages\/AP23139734994680.jpg?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Washington Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond departs federal court after pleading not guilty to obstruction of justice and other charges, Friday, May 19, 2023, in Washington. Lamond is accused of lying about leaking confidential information to a leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and obstructing an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appeal leaves Lamond fighting a conviction stemming from the same period that produced the Biden <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a>\u2019s Jan. 6 prosecutions, even as Tarrio himself received clemency from Trump after being sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy over Jan. 6.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamond\u2019s case also marks a rare occurrence where the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a> has remained aligned with a Jan. 6-era prosecution brought during the Biden administration, as the president has decried the former president and his \u201cradical left thugs\u201d for ever pursuing the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamond\u2019s case, however, is not technically a Jan. 6 prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His charges centered on his communications with Tarrio during an MPD investigation into the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a Washington church during a Proud Boys demonstration in December 2020. Tarrio <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/42866\/proud-boys-leader-pleads-guilty-to-burning-black-lives-matter-banner-and-weapons-charge\/\">pleaded guilty<\/a> in July 2021 to burning the banner and possessing a restricted firearm, and he acknowledged that if he had known the banner was stolen from a church, he would not have set it ablaze.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">FILE \u2013 Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Ore., Aug. 17, 2019. Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond has been arrested on charges that he lied about leaking confidential information to a leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and obstructed an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in Washington, D.C. Lamond is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday. (AP Photo\/Noah Berger, File)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/08\/localimages\/AP23125679073113.jpg?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Oregon, Aug. 17, 2019. Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond has been arrested on charges that he lied about leaking confidential information to a leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and obstructed an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in Washington, D.C. Lamond is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday. (AP Photo\/Noah Berger, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without an apparent nexus to the Jan. 6 riot, Lamond was left outside Trump\u2019s sweeping Jan. 20, 2025, clemency proclamation, which covered offenses related to the events at or near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What makes Lamond\u2019s case even more notable is how prosecutors under this administration have shown no indications of letting him off the hook. In a July 17 filing with the D.C. Circuit, the Trump administration <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28493816-lamond\/\">urged the appeals court to uphold<\/a> the case brought against Lamond under former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLamond knew that his conduct was wrong and risked impeding MPD\u2019s investigation and the impending prosecution,\u201d according to a filing last month by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Fleming, who works under U.S. Attorney <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jeanine-pirro\/\">Jeanine Pirro<\/a>. \u201cHis colleagues and superiors universally testified to that effect. Lamond\u2019s attempts to cover his tracks by using Telegram and deleting messages further evidenced his knowledge of wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DOJ under the Biden administration indicted Lamond in May 2023, accusing the longtime police officer of using his position as supervisor of MPD\u2019s Intelligence Branch to provide Tarrio with nonpublic information about the department\u2019s investigation, including information about a warrant for Tarrio\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted Lamond following a seven-day bench trial in December 2024 of one obstruction count and three counts of making false statements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jackson sentenced Lamond in June 2025 to 18 months in prison, below the four years prosecutors requested. By that point, Trump was back in office and Tarrio had been freed through the president\u2019s Jan. 6 clemency proclamation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamond has since been released from prison and is currently on home confinement. He is expected to transition to supervised release soon as his appeal continues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But his attorneys argued in the new filing that the government stretched both the obstruction and false-statement laws beyond their proper reach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Wednesday\u2019s reply brief, his defense attorneys Andrew Goldsmith and Reno Varghese argued the Washington, D.C., obstruction statute used against Lamond does not apply to a police investigation before criminal charges or judicial proceedings have begun. The defense further argues that the phrase \u201cdue administration of justice\u201d has historically referred to judicial or similar proceedings, rather than an ordinary pre-charge police investigation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense also argues Jackson improperly relied on alleged violations of MPD policies to find Lamond acted \u201ccorruptly,\u201d even though the judge acknowledged those internal rules did not carry the force of law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamond\u2019s attorneys separately attacked his three false-statement convictions, arguing two were based on vague questions that investigators later treated as categorical statements and a third depended on speculation about a message that was never recovered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That final count concerns the government\u2019s allegation that Lamond told Tarrio that an arrest warrant had been signed. The government has acknowledged that no such message was recovered, according to the filing. Lamond argues prosecutors instead stacked inferences about the contents of communications between the two men.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense also pointed to evidence it says undermines the Biden DOJ\u2019s portrayal of Lamond as an officer secretly working to protect Tarrio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the brief, Lamond helped investigators identify Tarrio from photographs, authenticated Tarrio\u2019s voice after he discussed the banner burning on a podcast, and later supplied the flight information that investigators used to arrest him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSomeone trying to conceal Tarrio\u2019s involvement would not repeatedly furnish investigators the evidence to identify, locate, and arrest him,\u201d Lamond\u2019s attorneys wrote in defense of their client conducting his required duties as a law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In that respect, Lamond was not always viewed in a sympathetic light by Trump supporters, given his initial intent to help the investigation into Tarrio. Yet the former Proud Boys leader now stands affirmatively in his corner, hoping the president would be willing to offer him relief in his legal battle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unusual posture of the case has left Lamond as one of the few defendants with ties to the Jan. 6 investigations still litigating a Biden-era conviction after Trump effectively ended the government\u2019s Capitol riot prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamond has also sought a presidential pardon through U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin\u2019s office. Unlike Tarrio and defendants whose convictions directly arose from the Capitol riot, however, Lamond\u2019s underlying obstruction charge concerned the separate December 2020 banner burning investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/4692534\/former-dc-police-overtime-fraud-charges-honored-congress-jan-6-plaque\/\">FORMER DC POLICE CHARGED WITH OVERTIME FRAUD ARE HONORED ON CONGRESS\u2019S JAN. 6 PLAQUE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His attorneys are asking the D.C. Circuit to reverse all four convictions and enter judgments of acquittal or, alternatively, vacate the convictions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled, though the case could reach a D.C. Circuit panel early next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lamond appeals Jan. 6-era conviction after Trump pardons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2647233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25157803282523.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[39567,32285,33309,50866],"class_list":["post-2647232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-dc-police","tag-legal-case","tag-police-misconduct","tag-proud-boys"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25157803282523.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647232"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647236,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647232\/revisions\/2647236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}