No matter your opinion on the controversial Boston murder trial of Karen Read, the misogyny plaguing her case is unquestionably clear.
Karen Read was acquitted on Wednesday, June 18, of the second-degree murder of her late boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Last summer, a harrowing eight-week trial in Dedham, Mass., ended in a hung jury. In her international-headline-making retrial, which lasted nearly two months from late April until June, the jury reached a final verdict: innocent on all charges, except operating a motor vehicle under the influence, for which she will likely only receive probation.
The prosecution alleged that Read intentionally hit O’Keefe with her car, causing his death.
Read’s defense—backed by thousands of supporters, many of whom spent every day last summer and the last month outside the courtroom, chanting and waving signs declaring Read’s innocence—argued that she was framed by Massachusetts law enforcement and that O’Keefe was beaten by people at the party where he was later found dead in the snow. They maintained that the death was caused by blunt force trauma and/or dog bites. For weeks leading up to the verdict, an estimated 3,000 supporters of Read stood outside the Norfolk County Courthouse in Dedham, wearing hot pink and holding signs reading “Free Karen Read” and references to the original trial.
Everyone in Dedham—my hometown—has heard of Read, and most people had their own elaborate theory of how O’Keefe really died the night of Jan. 29, 2022. Even the 6- and 8-year-old siblings I babysat for last summer had extensive knowledge about the case. As we walked past the courthouse to get our daily ice cream, the younger would proudly list off facts from the case as if for a quiz he had earned an A-plus on. And my landlord in Louisiana enthusiastically messaged me upon learning my address, curious about my local perspective.
What I have not heard nearly enough about, however, is the blatant misogyny plaguing Read’s case. No matter your stance on her (re)trial, it is impossible to deny the sexism of those involved in the investigation.
Misogyny within law enforcement is by no means new. Women make up only 12 percent of police officers. Lack of objectivity and bias against women have regularly skewed cases since the founding of the American judiciary. Read’s case was no exception.
The lead investigator on the case, Massachusetts state trooper Michael Proctor—tasked to lead an unbiased investigation into O’Keefe’s death—was caught making degrading jokes about searching for nude photos of Read and even texted his sister, “hopefully [Read] kills herself.” Proctor also called Read “a whack job cunt,” and stated in a group chat within 24 hours of O’Keefe’s death that Read was “a babe” with a “weird Fall River accent though. No ass.”
Massachusetts State Police suspended Proctor without pay in July 2024 and later dishonorably discharged him in March for these actions.
Still, the blatant lack of professionalism in the case has led to allegations of Massachusetts police incompetence. Read’s defense also alleged that investigators had planted evidence to frame Read.
Read was acquitted, but her outcome doesn’t excuse or lessen the severity of sexism in law enforcement.
Along with questions regarding the competency of the Massachusetts police, another outcome of Read’s years-long case is a public loss of trust in the court system. Locally, I’ve heard many argue the Boston police involved in the case are corrupt, and that the judge was incompetent. Many of Read’s supporters, and even some members of the original trial’s jury, claim the “evidence fails to meet this standard” of reasonable doubt. When the jury was deadlocked in the first trial, Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson said a juror shared that the jury came to a unanimous agreement that Read was not guilty of second-degree murder. Some journalists and Read supporters argue Judge Beverly Cannone was too quick to declare a mistrial before polling the “deeply divided” jury regarding which charges they had been inconclusive on.
But loss of trust in the judiciary is not exclusively a local issue. Confidence in the U.S. judicial system as a whole has dropped from 59 percent in 2020, to just 35 percent in 2024, according to a Gallup poll. Notably, “Democrats’ trust in the judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court fell 25 points (from 50 percent to 25 percent) between 2021 and 2022, spanning the Dobbs decision overturning constitutional protections for abortion.”
Read was acquitted, but her outcome doesn’t excuse or lessen the severity of sexism in law enforcement. In a statement following the verdict on June 18, Read’s father shared, “So many women identify with Karen because at some point in their lives they have been objectified and dehumanized or victimized in some way. … With Karen they see that strength and that courage to fight.”
