Aidan Kearney, the controversial blogger known as "Turtleboy," has been indicted on new charges related to his involvement with the ongoing Karen Read murder case.
He was indicted Wednesday by a Norfolk County grand jury on 16 charges, including eight counts of witness intimidation, three counts of conspiracy to intimidate witnesses and five counts of picketing a witness. The indictment moves the case to Superior Court, and he is scheduled to be arraigned at noon Friday.
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The conspiracy charges allege that Kearney on Sept. 25 worked with a police dispatcher to intimidate three people, including a Massachusetts State Police investigator working on the case. The dispatcher is also facing a conspiracy charge.
The grand jury charges name several alleged victims along with the police investigator, all of whom have been subjects of Kearney's vitriol.
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Kearney, 41, of Holden, was first arrested back in October on multiple counts of intimidation of a witness, juror or law enforcement official, and a single count of conspiracy. He has been free on personal recognizance since his arraignment with a requirement that he not have contact with anyone tied to the Read case.
The blogger has vehemently denied the accusations against him, and his lawyer has said Kearney's opinions were protected by the First Amendment. Kearney reiterated his innocence in a social media post Wednesday.
“I have been indicted on three new charges in Superior Court,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I knew this day was coming, and I’m not the least bit deterred. I am not the one under investigation by the FBI, but I’m being prosecuted by people who are.”
The charges stem from Kearney’s advocacy on behalf of Read, who’s accused of running over her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him unconscious on the lawn of a home in Canton, in January 2022. Read is charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while impaired and leaving the scene of an accident.
The case has spun off conspiracy theories on social media and Read’s attorney alleged there was a coverup involving local and state police.
In August, District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey took the unusual step of releasing a video statement in which he condemned “absolutely baseless” harassment and vilification of witnesses in the matter. “Innuendo is not evidence,” he said.
