Karen Read sues State Police, Canton over 2 officers' texts
Karen Read filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Bristol Superior Court against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, alleging that officers with racist and sexist biases helped drive the investigation into the death of John O'Keefe. The suit seeks unspecified financial damages and names former State Police trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton police Sergeant Sean Goode.
Proctor and Goode texts
Read's complaint says both men were "inveterate bigots" with deep-seated hatred for women and minority groups. It cites a text in which Proctor referred to a Boston police employee as "that lady was an absolute [expletive] rag [expletive]," along with an anti-Black slur he used in a separate message about a background check more than a decade ago.
The lawsuit also says Goode sent texts calling Boston Mayor Michelle Wu a "little [expletive]," describing a young woman allegedly killed by a former Stoughton detective as "borderline retarded," and writing in 2015 about one female suspect, "can’t wait to look this [expletive] up tonight at work."
Massachusetts State Police response
Geoffrey D. Noble said Thursday that the messages were "entirely inconsistent with any basic standard of decency and certainly with the expectations of a Massachusetts State Trooper." He added, "These racist, sexist and abhorrent comments absolutely do not reflect the values of the Massachusetts State Police and are not tolerated within our ranks," and said, "They underscore and fully support my decision to terminate Michael Proctor."
Proctor, who served as lead investigator in Read's criminal case, was hired by State Police in 2013 and fired in March 2025 after being forced to read crude and misogynistic messages about Read during her first criminal trial. Goode was placed on leave in October and resigned from the Canton department this week.
Bristol Superior Court filing
The complaint says State Police and Canton knew or should have known about the biases of Proctor and Goode, and says the agencies "unleashed these two misogynist bigots on Ms. Read" in the investigation into O'Keefe's death. Read's lawyers also said Proctor discussed "planting coke" on people and assaulting someone with a nightstick.
Jason W. Crotty, Proctor's lawyer, said, "The focus on anything other than Ms. Read’s own conduct on the night Officer O’Keefe was killed is as telling as it is predictable," setting up a civil fight over the officers' conduct and the agencies' liability in the same case that has already carried criminal consequences.
