For the first time, a blogger known for attracting large crowds to the Norfolk Superior Court hearings of Karen Read appeared on the other side of the court’s gallery.
Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney appeared ahead of his noon arraignment on 16 counts of witness intimidation and conspiracy related to his coverage and activism in the case wearing not one speck of his signature green, nor any turtle emblem or pattern. Instead, he wore a cream suit, a light blue shirt, and a dark blue tie, suggesting a new seriousness to the proceedings.
And he got an early Christmas present: he was released on personal recognizance and now absent the various restrictions imposed on him when the case was at the District Court level, which included stay-away orders from various witnesses in the Read case, from whom he was also barred from “directly or indirectly” harassing or encouraging his followers to harass.
And followers he has. While this appearance was not nearly as raucous and crowded as Read’s own last court appearance, his followers who he calls and who call themselves “Turtle Riders,” were back in droves. While the traditional t-shirts blaring “Free Karen Read” were still the most conspicuous, new slogans had also appeared: “Free Aidan Kearney” and “Journalism is not a crime” written around his mugshot.
Special Prosecutor Kenneth Mello, a Fall River defense attorney specially appointed to prosecutor this case, arrived to court with a security detail to slice through the horde of followers who had gathered for the midday, workday hearing.
“Obviously this hearing today is not being held in a vacuum,” Mello began, before saying he didn’t need to resummarize the charges against Kearney but did ask that Kearney be released on personal recognizance, as he said he’s not a flight risk, but with stricter conditions of release.
“One of the problems we have is the defendant continues to violate the original conditions of bail,” he argued before Judge Peter Krupp, which drew some chuckles from the followers assembled in the gallery. “It’s clear that Mr. Kearney is continuing to encourage his minions, his followers, to harrass witnesses in (the Read) case.”
But Krupp said the Superior Court is under a different set of rules than the district court and asked Mello to cite case law that would allow him to impose such conditions without Kearney’s consent. It would be different under a dangerousness hearing or if bail was imposed, but Mello sought neither route.
So his argument faltered and Kearney was released.
On the steps of the courthouse, where Kearney himself has held many a speech in the Read case, his defense attorney Tim Bradl disparaged the case against his client.
“It’s an incredibly weak case. Every bit of conduct here is First Amendment-protected activity,” Bradl said. “Even the indictments concerning the dispatcher. I want to invite everyone to take a look at the Pentagon Papers case in the Supreme Court, where journalists are completely insulated and protected from criminal liability for publishing material that was illegally taken from a government agency. They’re completely protected. So I don’t even know why they brought that charge.”
And he also personally praised his client.
“I always laugh when I hear people call him a blogger, like he’s sitting in his parent’s basement,” Bradl told the Herald later. “He’s one of the best investigative journalists I’ve ever met. He’s developed incredible scoops in (the Read) case.”
His coverage has amassed a fervent fan base, who came to the noon hearing not only as a sign of support for Turtleboy, but also to hang around for personal photos with Kearney and get his autograph.
“I’m blown away by the support. I feel like this issue has united left and right,” Kearney said. “People who even if they might not have agreed with me on topics I’ve written about before, I think we can all agree that government abuse and corruption is something that unites all of us.”
“And my coverage of the Karen Read story has gotten me a lot of different readers who might not have liked the content I have produced before,” he continued, “but what has happened to not only Karen Read, not only to me, but also to the Canton Nine and the dispatcher who did nothing wrong except is a whistleblower about public corruption is a threat to justice everywhere, is a threat to the First Amendment, is a threat to free speech. And what you’re seeing is a desperate move by a district attorney’s office who is under federal investigation by the United States Attorney’s office.”
That police dispatcher is Jannell Webb, of Hanson, who is the subject of indictments delivered Wednesday which charges her with three crimes: unlawfully conspiring with Kearney to intimidate Jennifer McCabe, Elizabeth Proctor, and Michael Proctor, a Massachusetts State Police detective assigned to the Read case.
This is a developing story.