Karen Read arrives to cheers of ‘Free Karen’ at court as supporters, counter-protesters clash outside

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read rolled up to a Massachusetts courthouse Monday afternoon to hundreds of supporters chanting of her innocence and clashing with counter-protesters ahead of a blink-and-you-miss it hearing, where a new murder trial date was set for 2025.

Read, 44, was back in a Norfolk County courtroom in Dedham, Mass. Monday afternoon, three weeks after a mistrial was declared in the case accusing her of mowing down her boyfriend cop John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022.

On her way into the building — smiling and wearing a taupe dress — Read, à la a celebrity, greeted some of her supporters in a crowd of roughly 200 as they chanted “Free Karen Read!”

Nearly 200 activists — for and against Read — began amassing and hurling swears at each other in the hours leading up to the minutes-long hearing where Judge Beverly Cannone set a new trial date for Jan. 27.

The judge also told everyone to return to court on Aug. 9 for oral arguments so Read’s lawyers can lay out why they think two of the three charges she faces should be dropped, after the revelation that jurors were actually in agreement to acquit her of murder.

Read was cheered on again as she exited the courthouse after, flanked by lawyers including David Yanetti who acknowledged the extraordinary turnout.

“I’ve never heard such a thunderous ovation as we got today,” Yanetti said. “That was like the patriots were introduced at the Super Bowl.”

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As for the murder case against his client, Yanetti said: “The DA’s office has discretion to drop the charges as we think that they should.

“They may be forced to drop these charges — either by this judge or another judge.”

Cannone found that the jury was deadlocked and declared mistrial on July 1 after the 12-person panel deliberated for five days, notifying the judge three separate times they couldn’t come to unanimous agreement in the case.

After mistrial, Read’s lawyers filed for the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a murder to be dismissed after, they said, four jurors notified the firm they actually were in agreement to acquit on those two charges and only couldn’t agree on manslaughter.

In fact, one juror confirmed this to WBZ News but said they didn’t know how to handle unanimity on two counts and disagreement on one.

The juror told the outlet that on the charge of manslaughter the group had reached a final “soft” vote of 9-3 in favor of convicting her of the lesser manslaughter charge.

The panelists sent out a note on July 1 saying they couldn’t agree on Read’s guilt because of “deeply held beliefs” — following two prior notes indicating discord. The third noted prompted Cannone to call off the trial.

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That same day prosecutors said they planned to retry the case.

Around 150 of Read’s supporters and roughly three dozen supporters of the O’Keefe family came to the courthouse ahead of Monday’s hearing, with one Read activist yelling “F–k the O’Keefe family” and a counter-protester calling blogger “Turtleboy” — who writes online about her innocence —  a ‘F–king p–y.”

The opposing groups were kept on separate sides of the courthouse except when they periodically met in the middle and screamed vitriol over megaphones at each other.

The hostile scenes also drew frustration from neighbors, who said they were fed up with the large crowds outside of the courthouse.

“Go the f–k home” one 76-year-old neighbor, Debbie, shouted at one of the protesters.

“I’m going to the frickin library and I have to push through these nuts. It’s not ok” she told The Post.

Controversial “Turtleboy” blogger Aidan Kearney — who helped garner national support for Read’s defense by spouting conspiracy theories about the case — was among the supporters who showed to court hours before her hearing.

“I want the charges to be dropped and a full apology from the commonwealth and the charges to be dropped against me and the people who have murdered John O’Keefe to be held responsible and sent to prison,” Kearney said, referencing his own arrest for allegedly harassing investigators and witnesses in Read’s case.

Dina Warscal, 57, was also present to show solidarity for Read, as she did throughout the trial whenever she could get away from her job at an antique shop.

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“There’s an innocent woman who a jury of 12 found her not guilty on two charges and now they’re going to retry her again,” said Warscal, a former employee in a police department. “That’s disgusting.”

A few dozen counter-protesters also appeared, including an O’Keefe family friend who said “it’s been horrific seeing the person who murdered their loved one being treated like a celebrity.”

The person said that the local animosity between supporters of Read’s innocence and advocates for justice for O’Keefe and her guilt resulted in threats online and by mail — and even prompted bogus restraining orders.

“There’s been a longstanding feud between certain people on either side of the support for this,” the counter-protester said.

“It’s frustrating. I think they try to intimidate us. If we speak out [about] how we feel, we are doxxed online,” the person explained. “People harass and call you. They’ll drive by your house. They’ll send threats in the mail.”

Read’s case has galvanized a cult-like following of people who ardently support the defense theory that she was a patsy in a sweeping law enforcement cover-up.

At trial, Read’s lawyers argued that on the night of O’Keefe’s death, Read dropped him off at his police pal Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Mass., where his cop buddies got into an altercation with him, leading to his death.

But prosecutors claim that after a night of bar-hopping, a boozed-up Read dropped O’Keefe off outside Albert’s home, only to mow him down with her Lexus SUV and leave him to die in a snowbank before a storm.

Experts told The Post that Read’s motion to dismiss is “relatively unprecedented” territory because she is asking the judge to rule as if jurors had rendered a verdict on two of the three counts, long after they’d been let go.

“There is no verdict, and [Read’s lawyers are] essentially asking the judge to honor that there really was one on two of the three charges,” Dedham lawyer Mike Thaler previously told The Post. “But a verdict only happens in the courtroom, and there is no longer a case that is pending on trial.”

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