Crowd grows outside Karen Read trial as people travel from across the country to await verdict
As Karen Read awaits a verdict in her second murder trial, the movement proclaiming her innocence has grown, with hundreds showing up outside the courthouse in Massachusetts.
On Monday, the second day that the jury deliberated, people crowded the sidewalks in Dedham and lawn chairs filled the lawns outside of Norfolk Superior Court. There were grandparents and mothers with children, dogs wearing pink bandanas, American flags, and even a tray of pink cupcakes.
People travel to courthouse for Karen Read trial
After watching the first trial from her home in Florida, Plymouth native Rita Guilford came to the courthouse for the first time on Monday.
"Praying for the verdict," Guilford said, "We were going to come on Friday, and I didn't want to miss the closing arguments."
She was joined by new friends, three first-timers, and Sally King, another Plymouth native who says she attended some of the last trial.
King argues that their movement is not only measured by Karen's image. "I think that we're all here for Karen, but I think more so for justice for John, too," King said.
The second trial has tapped into a common thread, beyond the utter conviction by the "Free Karen Read" movement that Karen is innocent.
"It could be me. I would have done everything she did. Exact same thing," said Patti Lima, who decided to start coming to the courthouse on Friday.
The prosecution has maintained that Karen Read was drunk when she backed her car into O'Keefe during a snowstorm in 2022, killing the Boston police officer. Many "Free Karen Read" activists say they believe in the defense's suggestion that there was a conspiracy to kill O'Keefe that did not involve Karen.
"I really believe there's a lot of corruption here and I believe it runs deep. And I've got three girls, and this could be one of my kids," said Robin Burns, who brought both of her daughters to court for some of the first and second trials.
Karen Read's fame growing
As the second trial has drawn on, Karen Read's notoriety has grown. Burns says her nine-year-old daughter took a picture with Karen's mother and wished her father a Happy Father's Day.
Throughout it all, John O'Keefe's family has remained somewhat private. His brother, Paul O'Keefe, told WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex after the conclusion of the last trial that it feels like his brother has been forgotten.
"She knows exactly what she did. And she's trying to buy and lie her way out of this, refusing to take accountability for her actions," O'Keefe said last July.
But if you ask some people who are outside the courtside wearing pink, they will tell you that it is not true.
"It's about freeing Karen Read and it's about getting justice for John O'Keefe," Samantha Benigno said.
