BOSTON — The Karen Read murder case has inspired crowds of pink-clad supporters, divided a Massachusetts town and provided juicy content for true crime podcasters. Now, rubber ducks are in the mix.
On Wednesday, one of Read’s ardent supporters pleaded not guilty to intimidating witnesses, harassment and littering. Richard Schiffer Jr. admits that he’s been placing dozens of yellow rubber ducks and fake $100 bills around town, but says he’s got a First Amendment right to support the defense theory that Read has been framed in the polarizing murder case.
Read now awaits a January retrial, accused of ramming into her boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving the Boston police officer to die in a snowstorm. Read’s attorneys have argued that other law enforcement officers were responsible for O’Keefe’s death. A judge declared a mistrial in June after finding that the jurors couldn’t reach agreement.
The 65-year-old Schiffer didn’t speak during his brief appearance in Stoughton District Court, but greeted several dozen supporters outside. Several wore T-shirts emblazoned with rubber ducks, while some carried American flags or placards supporting Read. One woman brought her pet parrot, who was wearing a cape with the words “Quack Quack” while another person had a huge flag with the words “Are they ducken crazy.”
“I’m overwhelmed by the support from everybody,” Schiffer said, before opening a bag someone handed him. It contained a silver duck.
“When I did this, I didn’t think it would go this far,” he said to shouts of “We Love You.”
Schiffer has said he got the ducks idea after thinking about a defense lawyer’s closing argument that Read was framed. Alan Jackson told jurors that “if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.” The police report also mentioned the connection between Jackson’s comments and the ducks.
“I wasn’t looking for any notoriety, anything,” he added. “I know I am doing the right thing and am on the right side of all this.”
Schiffer’s attorney, Timothy Bradl, said he would move to have the charges dismissed on First Amendment grounds before their next court date in November.
“This is what our country is all about, assembling on the courthouse steps, speaking out against ridiculous government overreach,” Bradl told the crowd. “What is going on here is viewpoint discrimination. They don’t like the message. The Canton cops don’t like the message … They should be embarrassed. There is no crime here.”
The defense alleged that O’Keefe was actually killed inside the home of his fellow Boston officer Brian Albert and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.
Schiffer has been among the dozens of Read supporters who accuse state and local law enforcement of a widespread coverup. Their demonstrations have led to angry confrontations, especially in the town of Canton where the murder happened, between those who support Read and others who believe she is guilty.
Schiffer, who owns Canton Fence and has said that he knows practically everyone in town through his contracting work, is accused of placing some of the ducks outside a pizza shop run by Brian Albert’s brother, Canton Selectman Chris Albert. Other ducks appeared in O’Keefe’s neighborhood.
Also facing charges of witness intimidation is the blogger Aidan Timothy Kearney, better known as “Turtleboy,” whose prolific postings have raised doubts about the prosecution and rallied supporters to her cause.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” Turtleboy said outside the court Wednesday, wearing a black T-shirt with a huge rubber duck on it. “Poor Rich did nothing wrong at all. He dropped duckies with words on it that they didn’t like … The First Amendment has been attacked by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office and we’re never going to stop fighting.”
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