Karen Read says lawsuit is ‘crusade’ to expose police corruption, bigotry, misogyny

Read sued the Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police on Thursday.

Nearly a year after she was acquitted of killing her boyfriend, Karen Read told ABC News she is on a "crusade" to expose corruption, bigotry and misogyny in two Massachusetts police departments that she claims framed her for murder.

"I have to make some good come of the pain," Read said. "I've learned something about the underbelly of these institutions that I feel I have to do something with, I have to make something good come of this."

Read, 46, was found not guilty last June of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe. Prosecutors accused her of hitting O'Keefe with her car outside of another officer's home and leaving him to die in a blizzard in January 2022. She argued that the collision never happened.

Read filed a new lawsuit on Thursday accusing the Massachusetts State Police and the Town of Canton Police Department of hiring "virulent bigots," naming former Massachusetts Police Officer Michael Proctor and former Canton Police Officer Sean Goode who had lead roles in the case.

The lawsuit includes previously unseen text messages allegedly from Proctor and Goode disparaging women, Black Americans, Asian Americans, Jews, Hispanics, Arabs and the LGBTQ community.

"America sucks...Hitler was really on to something, then the [expletive] US had to step in and ruin it," one text message allegedly from Proctor said, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also quoted Proctor allegedly describing a woman as an "absolute pig" and using a variety of other vulgar terms.

In other text messages, Goode allegedly uses racial and antisemitic slurs and makes sexualized and dehumanizing comments about Read.

"The messages show who he is as a human being," Read said in the interview referencing Proctor's text messages. "It's not just words, it's his way of thinking, it's how he looks at the world, it's how he looks at people who are not like him, who are not white American men, that person in their core cannot logically objectively investigate someone."

In a statement to ABC News, an attorney for Proctor pushed back against the allegations in the lawsuit saying, "The focus on anything other than Ms. Read’s own conduct on the night Officer O’Keefe was killed is as telling as it is predictable."

"Events in Mr. Proctor’s personal life have been reviewed, ad nauseum, by a grand jury, the District Attorney and the Massachusetts State Police. It is a matter of undisputed fact that anything Mr. Proctor did or said in his personal life, years before Officer O’Keefe was killed, had no bearing whatsoever on the investigation of Karen Read," Matthew Hamel, Proctor's attorney in the Read case, told ABC News.

Proctor was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after similar vulgar text messages between him and Goode came to light.

Referencing text messages previously released that led to his firing, Proctor said he developed strong negative feelings about Read "as the case went on," in a June 2025 interview with ABC News. He said he "shouldn't have" expressed his emotions in that way and should not have texted his friends about the case, calling the texts "regrettable."

Proctor denied fabricating evidence in the interview with ABC News, saying "there is no evidence of it." He said the text messages "don't define him as a person."

Goode said during his testimony at the trial that he stood by his investigation in the case.

After the lawsuit was announced, Massachusetts State Police called the messages "disturbing" in a statement Thursday.

“These disturbing messages are entirely inconsistent with any basic standard of decency and certainly with the expectations of a Massachusetts State Trooper. These racist, sexist and abhorrent comments absolutely do not reflect the values of the Massachusetts State Police and are not tolerated within our ranks. They underscore and fully support my decision to terminate Michael Proctor," state police Col. Geoffrey Noble said in a statement to ABC News.

The town of Canton said it put Goode on administrative leave and launched an internal investigation, retaining an outside investigator, after the district attorney’s office informed the town in October 2025 of inappropriate text messages he and Proctor allegedly sent each other.

"Claims that the Town knowingly ignored misconduct or failed to take these allegations seriously are inconsistent with the actions taken. Upon learning of the allegations, the Town promptly removed Sgt. Goode from the workplace, retained an independent investigator, and pursued appropriate personnel action based on the information available throughout the investigative process," the town said in a statement Friday.

"The messages are abhorrent, deeply offensive, hateful, and do not reflect the values of the Canton Police Department or its members. The men and women of the Canton Police Department are entrusted with serving every member of the community fairly, professionally, and with respect," the town said.

The town also said it initiated termination proceedings for Goode and set a hearing for June 2, but Goode tendered his resignation on May 29, effective June 2, before those proceedings could be completed.

"The internal affairs report will be released when finalized and will be a public record, subject to legally required redactions. The report will also be provided to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission," the town said.

Read's lawsuit claims Proctor and Goode have "deeply held biases," particularly against women, that drove them to frame her for O'Keefe's murder. One of her attorneys, Charles Waters, claims Read's legal team uncovered 13,000 "messages of bias."

"It means that there was a comfort level within the ranks of the Massachusetts State Police, within the ranks of the Canton police department that cannot stand. That's what we want to take down," said Alan Jackson, another of Read's lawyers.

In the interview with ABC News, Read addressed those who disagreed with the jury's verdict and believe she got away with murder.

"I have not met one of those people. I don't doubt that they exist," Read said. "I've just been met with an overwhelming, to the point that sometimes I don't even want to go out because the support is constant, and it tells me that people, especially women, identify with what they've seen me go through."

Goode did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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