Masshole Troll Mafia leader Kate Peter livestreamed with co-host Boomer Tuesday night with an extended look at the turmoil within the so-called “Free Karen Read” movement as prominent member Rita Lombardi quit the movement.
The livestream followed a day of big asks for the prosecution in Karen Read’s murder case. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan sought phone records from Karen Read’s father and mother for the period around the death of John O’Keefe in 2022.
Karen Read’s attorneys opposed the request as they claimed that the request would be a “gross violation” of Read’s parents’ privacy and would only serve as a fishing expedition for the prosecution.
Special prosecutor Brennan is also seeking unredacted notes and video from an interview reporter Gretchen Voss did for Boston Magazine. Brennan claims that portions of the redacted interview contained instructions from her attorney to change some of her answers and that attorney client privilege doesn’t apply when Read and her lawyers were in the presence of a reporter.
It was also a hard weekend for the “Free Karen Read” movement as Reed held a fundraising dinner that was originally described as over 200 members of the movement but whittled down to just “friends and family” and a handful of supporters after members of the movement who were not invited to the event expressed outrage.
Karen Read supporter Rita Lombardi publicly quit the movement this week after being excluded from the fundraising event. Lombardi was a prominent member of the Free Karen Read movement who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Select Board of Canton and was widely backed by the movement.
An account claiming to be Lombardi posted in the side chat of Kate Peter’s livestream Tuesday night, “This was about doing what is right and fighting for her innocence, and now it’s about how deep our pockets are? I am beyond distraught this is what it has come to.”
The account continued, “I was fighting for Canton and for the entire commonwealth, but suddenly it’s about the who’s who of Massachusetts? Give me a break.”
Peter welcomed Lombardi to the stream and commended her for her dedication to the cause despite their differences of opinion on Karen Read’s innocence. Peter also noted that the Free Karen Read movement has about 300 total supporters and last weekend’s exclusion is serving as a major crisis point for the movement.
Observers noted that Karen Read’s support at the hearing was the lowest ever, with just a small handful of supporters on hand to support Read. Read is accused of the second-degree murder of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, her then boyfriend, in January of 2022. Her first trial resulted in a hung jury; she is scheduled to be retried in January of 2025.
Peter’s livestream drew 1282 continuous viewers at the peak of the event.
Disclaimer: ReallyCoolNews started as a daily news update on Kate Peter’s original Masshole Discord server. It later moved to ReallyCoolNews.org with a channel on Peter’s server. There are no financial or editorial ties between Peter and the news outlet.
