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A close friend of slain Boston cop John O’Keefe slammed Karen Read for proclaiming she’s fought for justice in her beau’s case harder than anyone else — just after she was acquitted of his murder.
The officer’s pal, John Jackson, told The Post that Read, who was accused of hitting O’Keefe with her car and leaving him to die in the snow, wasn’t there for him when he desperately needed her.
“The irony of that, right? How hard was she fighting between 12:30 and 6 in the morning on Jan. 29, 2022?” Jackson said Thursday.
“You want to fight for justice now, fine. But in the moment when he needed you, you weren’t there. You caused it and you weren’t there.”
O’Keefe was left to die in a snowbank for hours overnight and his frozen body was discovered the following morning after Read dropped him off at a house party in Canton in January 2022 — setting off the explosive legal spectacle.
The longtime pal of O’Keefe ripped into the financial analyst, claiming “there is more evidence that points to her than anybody else” and eviscerated her obsessive legion of fans that went wild after she was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges.
Read, 45, was accused of striking O’Keefe, 46, with her Lexus on Jan. 29, 2022 after dropping him off at a house party in Canton more than three years ago. She was quickly charged, but her legal team claimed the investigation was shoddy and argued she was being scapegoated by law enforcement.
She took a victory lap after the acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges, boldly claiming to her crowd of supporters, “No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have.”
She was only convicted of drunk driving and given a year of probation.
Her first trial ended in a hung jury.
About 12 hours after the verdict was revealed, Jackson was still downtrodden while noting O’Keefe’s family was “surprised” and “heartbroken” by the jury’s decision to only convict on the drunk driving charge.
“The reality is whether it’s beyond a reasonable doubt or not in the eyes of the jury, there is more evidence that points to her than anybody else,” Jackson, 49, said. “And for us, that’s a shame because we feel like it’s a missed opportunity for justice.”
“The story is she was there the last time he moved,” he also claimed.
“She was there the last time he moved with her car. If you want to believe anything else, that’s your prerogative. I would suggest you don’t let other people tell you what to think.”
One of the unavoidable scenes during the months-long retrial was the hordes of Read supporters congregating outside the courthouse to support the former college professor.
The fanatics wore pink and would flash a silent hand gesture that means “I love you” in American Sign Language.
Jackson said her supporters must’ve suspended “all critical thinking” to root for Read and questioned if they longed to be part of a community.
“To turn around and see grown men wearing pink shirts and holding signs,” Jackson said. “Really? That’s what you want to do on a Saturday? You have time for that?”
Jackson, who was a pallbearer at O’Keefe’s funeral, said some supporters have harassed O’Keefe’s family and friends during the legal saga that spanned over two trials and started more than three years, including doxxing anyone who spoke up against Read.
“I think there is some social control there,” Jackson said when asked if he thought the pro-Read group was like a cult.
“Whether it be the pull of wanting to belong to something greater than yourself … but you can fulfill that need by doing something good, something greater than supporting someone who the evidence doesn’t point to anybody else but her.”
Meanwhile, he remembered his late friend as an ‘incredible man” who stepped up to raise his orphaned niece and nephew after their parents died.
“He didn’t think about it. He did it,” Jackson said. “That is a real hero.”
English (US)