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Crime MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE TROOPER MICHAEL PROCTOR “IS NOT ABLE TO FUNCTION AS A TROOPER” WHILE HE AWAITS A DUTY STATUS HEARING. Relieved of duty following his vulgar text messages

about Karen Read, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor has been reassigned but “is not able to function as a trooper,” a State Police spokesperson confirmed.  State Police Col.

John Mawn Jr. announced Proctor’s removal from duty Monday, just hours after Read’s murder trial ended in a hung jury. Proctor, who led the investigation in Read’s case, testified that

“emotions got the best of me” when he texted friends, family, and colleagues about the defendant.  In those messages, read aloud in open court, Proctor called Read a “wack job c**t” and

“retarded,” made fun of her Crohn’s disease and Fall River accent, joked about looking for nude photos on her phone, and said he hoped Read would kill herself.  Those texts “are not

reflective of the Massachusetts State Police,” Mawn told reporters earlier this week. “That’s not where we want to be as an organization. And I believe that we will certainly continue to

monitor that as we are moving through the process of our internal affairs investigation.” Advertisement: State Police previously noted that the agency’s disciplinary process includes a duty

status hearing, which determines whether the trooper will remain on full or restricted duty, be suspended with pay, or face unpaid suspension. The agency spokesperson was unable to provide

information about when Proctor’s duty status hearing might occur.  In the meantime, Proctor’s transfer out of the detective unit assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office

will be made official Sunday. His new assignment is in Troop H, State House News Service reported.  The State Police spokesperson told Boston.com Proctor has also turned in his agency

equipment.  Advertisement: Gov. Maura Healey, who previously said she was “disgusted” by Proctor’s texts, said earlier this week that Mawn “made the right decision” by relieving Proctor of

his duties.  In a statement of his own, Brian Williams, the president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, emphasized that the organization does not condone the language in

Proctor’s texts. However, Williams also said Read’s lawyers “blurred the lines between fact and innuendo.” ABBY PATKIN Staff Writer Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose

work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between. She has been covering the Karen Read murder case. NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Stay up to date on all the latest news from

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