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“I would submit that Aidan Kearney successfully enlisted the greatest degree of public participation in a judicial proceeding in the history of this commonwealth.”
Karen Read and Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney. Matt Stone/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool; Stuart Cahill/Pool
July 14, 2026 | 1:14 PM
2 minutes to read
Lawyers for Karen Read and Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney were back in court Tuesday as they fought to dismiss a defamation lawsuit from witnesses who accused the pair of “tormenting” them over their involvement in Read’s murder case.
Jennifer McCabe, Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins say they have “become prisoners in their own communities” since Read and Kearney publicly accused them of playing a role in the 2022 death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
Prosecutors had accused Read of drunkenly backing her SUV into O’Keefe while dropping him off at Brian Albert’s home in Canton for an afterparty, but Read has long maintained other guests inside the house are to blame. She was tried twice for murder and ultimately acquitted last year of all but a drunk driving misdemeanor.
Both she and Kearney have filed motions to dismiss the witnesses’ defamation complaint under the state’s anti-SLAPP law, which targets so-called strategic litigation against public participation, or lawsuits intended to silence critics through costly court battles.
In her motion, Read says she shared information about the murder case with Kearney in hopes of publicizing her allegation of a coverup and prompting community members to pressure prosecutors into dropping the charges and pursuing “the true perpetrators.”
“Kearney’s brash mix of activism, advocacy, and investigative reporting brought national attention to this little-noticed case, leading to the remarkable ‘Free Karen Read’ movement,” the blogger’s separate anti-SLAPP motion notes.
Yet while Read and Kearney both argue their conduct was constitutionally protected petitioning, McCabe, Higgins, and the Alberts instead allege a “multi-year campaign of defamation, harassment, intimidation, and destruction aimed at witnesses in Read’s criminal case and sustained for profit, publicity, and litigation advantage.”
They pointed to a message Read sent Kearney in September 2023, in which she purportedly cheered the reputational damage Kearney’s articles wrought.
“Look at what you’ve done to their reputations!! And to MY jury pool! Chris [Albert]’s business is the next casualty,” Read allegedly wrote, referring to Brian Albert’s brother and Colin Albert’s father.
But Jeffrey J. Pyle, one of Kearney’s attorneys, argued in court Tuesday that at this early stage in the legal proceedings, the anti-SLAPP statute does not take into account the motive behind protected petitioning activity. Further, he noted, the anti-SLAPP law covers more activity than simply speaking in court or petitioning the government directly.
“It extends … to statements that are reasonably likely to enlist public participation in an ongoing judicial case,” Pyle said. “I would submit that Aidan Kearney successfully enlisted the greatest degree of public participation in a judicial proceeding in the history of this commonwealth.”
Christopher Mattei, an attorney for the plaintiffs, agreed that Kearney’s motive is not yet relevant, but he argued that the facts show Kearney wasn’t looking to petition the government when he accused the witnesses of murder.
Judge Mark Gildea took the matter under advisement.
Another hearing in federal court Tuesday afternoon will cover motions to dismiss a separate lawsuit Read has filed against witnesses and investigators she claims conspired to frame her. Brian Albert and McCabe are both defendants in that suit, as are their respective spouses and Higgins.
Higgins, the Alberts, and the McCabes have also invoked the state’s anti-SLAPP statute in their bid to get the federal lawsuit tossed.
Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.
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