A lieutenant with the Metropolitan Police Department is under investigation and on leave for alleged ties to a right-wing extremist group.

The news was first reported by NBC4’s Mark Segraves on Wednesday afternoon, and two separate sources later confirmed it to DCist/WAMU.

The Washington Post later reported that the investigation centers on communications between Lt. Shane Lamond, a 22-year veteran of he department, and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a leader of the Proud Boys, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group and classified by the FBI as having white nationalist ties.

The Proud Boys were involved in numerous protests and street brawls in D.C. in 2020, including one in which a Black Lives Matter banner was stolen from a church and burned. A number of its members later took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, though Tarrio did not.

D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee addressed the matter at a press conference on Wednesday evening, where he said he was unable to share many details — including Lamond’s name — because of an ongoing investigation being conducted alongside the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, and U.S. Attorney for D.C.

All he would say is that “concerns” raised about the lieutenant’s actions had prompted the investigation and decision to put him on leave. Contee did say that the investigation could be connected to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, but would not necessarily be limited to that.

“Any and everything is on the table at this point,” he said.

That an investigation is happening could confirm long-held suspicions among some activists that some police officers — both in D.C. and elsewhere — have been sympathetic towards or maintained ties to extremist groups. In 2019, a D.C. police officer was seen fist-bumping a Proud Boys member during a protest, and activists have also complained that extremist and white supremacist groups have often enjoyed ample police protection during protests in the city. (Police officials say that’s to prevent street brawls.) Leaked MPD emails also showed the department closely watching anti-racist groups, with less apparent focus on right-wing extremist groups.

Last year, in response to allegations nationwide of links between police and extremist groups, D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) introduced a bill that called for an assessment to be conducted to unearth any links between MPD and white supremacist and hate groups. The measure has not become law.

In 2017, the department investigated an officer for wearing a t-shirt to court that included an image associated with white supremacist groups.

Speaking Wednesday, Contee said the investigation and his decision to put the lieutenant on leave were proof that the department can be trusted to handle the matter.

“From day one, I have been committed to transparency and accountability, not just for members of the Metropolitan Police Department, but any space in the Metropolitan Police Department and any space in community where there are things that are happening that should not happen,” he added. “We want to make sure that our members, the members of the Metropolitan Police Department, have the utmost trust and respect of the communities that we serve.”