The Massachusetts cabinet official who oversees the state's hate crimes task force inadvertently sent an email to a Washington Free Beacon reporter this week denouncing task force member Talbert Swan, who described Charlie Kirk's assassination as "chickens coming home to roost."
But that official, Terrence Reidy, won't take those concerns public, though he asked permission from superiors to do so. Reidy declined to comment on the record until the Free Beacon asked for comment on the inadvertent email, at which point he issued a watered-down statement that called on Massachusetts leaders to "turn down the temperature" on political rhetoric but made no direct reference to Swan.
It raises questions about whether Reidy, the secretary for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, is being muzzled by the administration led by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey.
Last week, the Free Beacon reported that Swan said Kirk's assassination was "chickens coming home to roost" for what he said was Kirk's history of racist rhetoric. Swan, the president of a local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch, excoriated black supporters of Kirk as "coons," adding that while he did not believe Kirk should have been murdered, he should also not be "mourned."
The Free Beacon sought comment from the task force and from Reidy, who co-chairs the organization alongside Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Reidy accidentally responded to the Free Beacon on Tuesday in an email seeking approval to make a public statement.
"If not, I would like approval to respond and voice my objections towards Swan's statements," Reidy wrote to the intended recipient. He wrote back to the Free Beacon minutes later with apologies for the errant message.
"My responding e-mail was meant for someone else. I appreciate you waiting for an official response on your inquiry."
Reidy backtracked the next day, saying through a spokeswoman that he would not be issuing a statement.
"The Secretary asked that I connect with you and let you know that he is unable to provide a comment," said Elaine Driscoll, director of communications and policy at the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Only after repeated inquiries did Reidy issue an official statement, though without naming Swan.
"At a time when political violence is rising and tensions are high, I believe that this is a moment for leaders to calm their rhetoric and turn down the temperature. We must all condemn political violence anywhere in America," Reidy said in his official statement.
It marks a pattern of silence at the hate crimes task force regarding Swan, whose inflammatory statements on racial issues have angered task force members in the past. Though Swan is not a household name outside Massachusetts, he wields considerable political influence in the Democratic stronghold. His endorsement of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.) in 2012 was widely touted by news outlets across the state. The pair have been spotted together at several political events since then. In 2018, Healey, who then served as Massachusetts attorney general, appointed Swan to her Advisory Council on Racial Justice and Equity.
Swan, who was recommended to the 27-member task force by a member of the Massachusetts legislature, faced scrutiny in 2022 after he invoked tropes about Jewish control of the media after rapper Kanye West was condemned for making anti-Semitic remarks. He's written that "Whiteness is an unrelenting, demonic, force of evil" in multiple social media posts. After the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Swan said in a sermon, "Violence is the language of the unheard." And he accused Israel of conducting a "Holocaust" in Gaza in its response to Hamas.
A task force member told the Free Beacon at the time, "It's unfortunate that a person who himself spews hate has a position on this task force." That task force member, speaking on condition of anonymity, denounced Swan as a "racist hate-monger" after his recent remarks about Kirk.
Mike Kennealy, a Republican running for Massachusetts governor, called on Healey to remove Swan from the task force.
"In the days since Maura Healey had the opportunity to fire Talbert Swan for justifying Charlie Kirk's assassination, Swan has doubled and tripled down on vile, hateful rhetoric defending the brutal killing. Maura Healey can still do the right thing by firing him immediately," Kennealy told the Free Beacon.
Healey's office did not respond to requests for comment.
Swan, the pastor of Spring of Hope Church Of God In Christ, is not backing down from his remarks about Kirk. He posted a video of a sermon he gave on Sunday about Kirk with a soundtrack of the Notorious B.I.G. rap song, "Who Shot Ya?" playing in the background.
"The man who murdered Kirk was a 22-year-old white man, raised in a conservative Republican family, groomed in the MAGA culture," said Swan.
Kirk's alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, grew up in a Republican family but had embraced liberal and pro-trans causes in recent years. According to state prosecutors, Robinson expressed hatred for Kirk, and told his romantic partner, a biological male who is transitioning to a woman, that Kirk was full of "hatred."
