Circus of obsessed Karen Read supporters gather outside court on closing arguments day: ‘It's so twisted. It's so corrupt'

New York Post

13-06-2025

A circus of obsessed Karen Read supporters gathered outside a Massachusetts courthouse as closing arguments were underway Friday— including one woman so enthralled by the dramatic murder retrial she brought her 7-day-old infant.
Hundreds of people formed a sea of pink — the color Read's defenders have taken up to show their allegiance — around the Norfolk County Supreme Courthouse in Dedham, where some fans held a massive sign reading 'FRAMED.'
7 A circus of Karen Read supporters gathered outside a Massachusetts courthouse amid closing arguments Friday.
David McGlynn
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'It's so twisted. It's so corrupt,' said the mother, who had her week-old old baby strapped to her chest in a Baby Bjorn near the throng of fans.
The woman, who didn't give her name, said she became riveted by the case — in which Read, 45, is accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022 — after watching an HBO documentary series about the alleged murder.
The injustice cited by crowd members centers on Read's claim that cops tried to cover up that O'Keefe was actually killed by another person.
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She claims she dropped him off at a house party the night of his death and he was later killed by someone else — possibly a police officer who was at the bash. She alleges police have tried to frame her for O'Keefe's death.
7 Karen Read supporters held a sign declaring that she was 'FRAMED.'
AP
'It's not like Karen's a super, like, reliable person, right off the bat [in the series]. And then I saw the second episode, third episode, fourth episode. It's, like, there's actually no way she hit him. You start changing your mind,' she said.
Others watched the defense's closing arguments on their phones and cheered like it was a sports game.
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One die-hard supporter flew in from Texas, and had been standing outside the courthouse since 5 a.m. in anticipation of a possible acquittal.
'I've been following the case, you know, from the beginning, I just can't get over how corrupt it all is. I can't,' said Amanda Rooney, Agawam, 47, of Agawam, Mass.
'I've listened to both sides. I was open to both sides…. But for every detail that somebody can give me about how she's guilty, I can tell them 10 ways she's not.'
7 Read supporters wore pink outside the court house.
David McGlynn
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Nearby, one fan handed out bottles of water to supporters sitting on the sidewalk and another plastered her car with a massive sign declaring 'Free Karen Read.'
7 Supporters flashed signs reading 'Free Karen Read.'
AP
Meanwhile, one supporter made a prop hat with the ingredients of a ham sandwich — an inside joke about a witness filmed eating the lunch food near defense attorney— as another held as sign proclaiming, 'Reasonable doubt established.'
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, John O'Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after they got into a fight during a night of heavy drinking in January 2022.
7 Karen Read is accused of killing her police officer boyfriend by running him over with an SUV.
AP
Her first trial was declared mistrial last year after a deadlocked jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on all charges.
During closing arguments Friday, defense attorney Alan Jackson told jurors the case was corrupted by its lead investigator.
'You folks are the last line of defense— the last line of defense between an innocent woman and a system that has tried to break her, that falsely accused her and that tried mightily to bury the truth,' Jackson said.
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'This case has been corrupted by biases, conflicts and personal loyalties. Most fatally, it was corrupted by a lead investigator whose misconduct infected every part of this case from the top to the bottom,' he said.'[He] didn't want the truth.'
7 One supporter held a sign reading 'Reasonable doubt established.'
David McGlynn
'On full display you saw the lengths to which some police officers will go to protect their own at the expense of the rest of us,' he said.
Jackson also reminded the jury of the lead investigator's profane text messages to his pals about Read.
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'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl,' the investigator wrote, referring to Read. 'She is a wack job c–t. . . Yeah she's a babe.'
'Zero chance she skates…She's f–ked,' he wrote.
7 Hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse Friday.
David McGlynn
Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan, meanwhile, said Read left her boyfriend to die in the snow to protect herself.
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'She made a decision in her Lexus…as John O'Keefe laid helpless like a child in the front yard. She didn't call 911, she didn't run to his aid, she didn't knock on the front door,' Brennan said in closing arguments.
'She drove away. She was drunk, she hit him and she left him to die,' he said.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberating on the case later Friday.