The man behind the controversial “Turtleboy” news blog, Aidan Kearney, was arrested on multiple counts over his coverage of the John O'Keefe murder case against Karen Read.
Karen Reed, a Massachusetts woman, was charged last year in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe outside a Canton home on January 29, 2022. Reed is accused of backing her SUV into O'Keefe and leaving him to die in the snow outside the home owned by the couple’s friends after a night of drinking.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while impaired and leaving the scene of an accident.
In the wake of the charges leveled against Read, Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney, who believes that a cover-up is hiding who killed O'Keefe, has aggressively endorsed the theory that the suspect is being framed by writing at least 164 articles about the Karen Read case.
Furthermore, the Turtleboy blogger was accused of rallying supporters, attending demonstrations outside the courthouse, and harassing witnesses at the Canton home where O’Keefe’s body was discovered. Prosecutors alleged that Kearney also harassed the lead investigator of the case, Michael Proctor and his wife in multiple blog posts. Kearney reportedly revealed Proctor’s wife’s employment address and asked his readers to leave unflattering reviews online.
On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Kearney was charged with six counts of witness intimidation and one count of conspiracy.
Turtleboy blog author Aidan Kearney was a former history teacher
Aidan Kearney, a Holden man, is a self-described journalist who started a blogging site, Turtleboy, that touts itself as a website exposing corruption of Massachusetts State Police and politicians. In a self-published book titled "I and Turtleboy" Kearney described himself as a former teacher turned blogger who “battles big tech censorship, threats, and political correctness to protect free speech and democracy.”
In the synopsis of his book, Kearney said that he was a High School history teacher for 11 years. However, Kearney was allegedly forced out of his job in 2014 after a blogger from Buffalo said that he s*xually assaulted a woman in front of 60,000 people at a Patriots-Bills game. Kearney claimed that he successfully sued the blogger for libel but could not work as a teacher following the allegations.
Kearney revealed that he started Turtleboy to speak out against what he perceived as ‘injustice’ in society. Since then, Kerney has generated controversies by peddling conspiracy theories online. However, his latest endeavor appeared to have landed him in legal trouble after he was charged with multiple counts of witness intimidation and one count of conspiracy over his coverage of the Karen Reed case.
What we know about Turtleboy's involvement in Karen Read case
Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney, who believes Karen Reed is an innocent victim of a cover-up, has led the charge to free the suspect accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe.
Kearney alleged that on the night of the incident, John O’Keefe went inside the Canton house, owned by another Boston police officer, where he was brutally beaten, attacked by the owner’s dog and then taken back outside to die. Kearney based his allegations on his belief that the victim’s wounds were consistent with injuries sustained during dog attacks.
Kearney has promoted the baseless theories online and urged his supporters to harass the witnesses in the case, including the homeowner Brian Albert and members of Albert’s extended family that he claimed have political connections in the community.
On Thursday, prosecutors detailed the series of events that led to the charges against Kearney, including giving out the phone number of the lead investigator’s wife to Turtleboy followers on YouTube. Kearney was also accused of calling the lead investigator in the case Michael Proctor during a live broadcast on his YouTube channel. In a YouTube video on June 13, Keraney called Proctor and said:
“Hi Trooper Proctor, this is award-winning journalist Aidan Kearney calling. I'm calling to talk to you. I do have some questions about you. I have a lot of questions. For starters, why didn't you tell anyone before doing the investigation that you were good friends with the Albert family?”Kearney, who pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance bail, was ordered to stay away from contacting any of the victims in the case, including Christopher and Colin Albert and Michael and Elizabeth Proctor. However, in a statement on X formerly known as Twitter, Kearney declared that he would not be stopped.
If found guilty of violating the conditions, Kearney would be jailed for up to 90 days without bail.
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