Lawsuit Alleges Corruption, Bigotry Within Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police Department

Karen Read filed a civil lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police Department on June 4, 2026. Read alleges a culture of bigotry and institutional rot within both agencies following her 2025 acquittal in the death of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, according to court documents filed in Bristol Superior Court.

Read appeared on the Today show on June 5, 2026, with her attorney, Alan Jackson, to discuss the objectives of the legal action. Jackson stated that the primary goal is not a financial settlement but the public disclosure of internal agency conduct.

What Karen wants, you cannot write on a check, which is exposure. Exposure of the corruption that is the DNA of the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department.Alan Jackson

Why did Karen Read sue the police?

The lawsuit claims that the two trials Read faced revealed an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot at the core of both police organizations. Read told the Today show on June 5, 2026, that she could not move on from the experience because she felt she was wronged.

Read noted that while her acquittal was deserved, the wrongs have not been completely righted. She said she had to secure her freedom first before she could fight for justice.

What are the allegations regarding police misconduct?

A central part of the civil filing involves text messages between former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode. These messages were discovered during an unrelated prosecution of Myles King for the 2021 killing of Marquis Simmons, which led to a search of Proctor’s personal phone.

According to the complaint, Proctor sent messages to Goode that included racist remarks. In one instance, Proctor allegedly discussed a car crash in Canton, stating, Actually, take your time, I saw a [n*****] was involved, so I wouldn’t rush if you’re working. Let them die.

Other alleged messages from Proctor included a suggestion that it should be punch a [n*****] day in Canton as retribution and a comment stating that Hitler was really on to something before the U.S. intervened.

Proctor served as the lead investigator in the death of John O’Keefe. He was fired by the State Police in March 2025 after messages he sent about Read surfaced during her first trial in April 2024. Sean Goode resigned from the Canton Police Department on June 2, 2026, following an internal investigation into the communications he exchanged with Proctor dating back to 2013, according to CBS News.

How did the police departments respond?

The Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department provided contrasting responses to the lawsuit. Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble of the State Police issued a statement calling the messages racist, sexist and abhorrent.

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.Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble

Noble stated that the misconduct harmed public trust and supported his decision to terminate Proctor in March 2025.

The Canton Police Department took a different approach, posting a statement on Facebook on June 4, 2026. The department stated the town had not yet been served and therefore had nothing to review with legal counsel and no comment on the press release from Read’s legal team.

What is the background of the John O’Keefe case?

John O’Keefe, a 46-year-old Boston police officer, died of blunt force trauma to the head on January 29, 2022. He was found wounded on the lawn of retired Boston police sergeant Brian Albert.

Prosecutors alleged that Read, a former financial analyst and adjunct professor at Bentley University, drove her SUV into O’Keefe while intoxicated and left him to die in a blizzard. Read denied these claims throughout the legal process.

The legal proceedings spanned several years:

• 2024: The first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked.
• 2025: A second jury found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter.
• 2025: Read was convicted only of the lesser offense of driving while intoxicated.