Michael Proctor maintains “full duty” months after state police learn about the blasphemy text

To regain his job, former Massachusetts official Michael Proctor appealed his dismissal, filings filed with the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission claiming he was treated unfairly and that state police acted inconsistently in his case.

Research No. 25 investigated Proctor’s documents through a public record request.

According to lawyer Daniel J. Moynihan (Daniel J.

Moynihan wrote: “After revealing the content of the text message in early February 2024, he was allowed to continue full-time for a long time, indicating that his actions were not initially the reason for the immediate suspension.”

Proctor noted that he first faced the information in a federal grand jury on February 1, 2024, and immediately revealed their presence and content to his boss.

Moynihan said Proctor met with two state police attorneys the following week, who “disclosed the existence and content of text messages owned by U.S. prosecutors.”

It was not until June 2024, during the Karen Reading murder trial that the announced text message was suspended and eventually fired.

The appeal further noted that a preliminary investigation by two state police captains in the Office of Professional Integrity and Accountability Office determined that in the reading case, “there is no evidence that he is biased.” This is contrary to the reason why he eventually fired, in part because his message creates a “perception of bias.”

Proctor’s legal team also believes that soldiers have constitutional rights on their personal phones because there is no state police policy to manage the policy of soldiers using their personal devices.

Attorney Moynihan wrote: “All private text messages attributed to the appellant were sent on a personal cell phone where he expects the right to confidentiality of the constitution.”

The disciplinary action against Proctor was described as “different” and significantly outweighed the punishment for similar first-time offenses against other members of the department.

Proctor plans to hold a series of hearings before the Civil Service Commission next week.

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