In a significant victory without spending a dime speech and a stinging defeat for political retribution, the Massachusetts Civil Service Fee overturned the termination of Joseph Abasciano, a former Boston Police Division (BPD) officer accused of misconduct associated to tweets he posted on January 6, 2021, whereas attending the “Cease the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C.
The unanimous determination permits Abasciano to retire medically, together with his federal lawsuit in opposition to the town nonetheless pending.
Officer Abasciano, a former U.S. Marine with commendations for his service in Iraq and over a decade of distinguished work in Boston’s hardest neighborhoods, discovered himself beneath scrutiny not for his actions however for his conservative political beliefs.
Abasciano’s case arose from a sequence of tweets on his nameless account, @mailboxjoe, that neither recognized him as a BPD officer, the place he described attendees as “patriots” and referred to the Vice President as a “traitor.”
“I despatched out some nameless tweets whereas touring dwelling. Apparently, I used to be not so nameless. It seems my conservative activism and makes an attempt to show (Democrat) union corruption uncovered me and my nameless Twitter account,” Abasciano advised The Gateway Pundit.
He was terminated in 2023 following a second investigation into nameless tweets he posted whereas returning dwelling from the January 6 rally.
Notably, the Fee highlighted that Abasciano didn’t take part in any violent actions throughout the Capitol riot. Inner investigations initially cleared him of misconduct.
Nonetheless, beneath Mayor Wu’s administration, a second investigation was launched, resulting in Abasciano’s termination.
Wu, who campaigned on progressive insurance policies and aggressive measures in opposition to January 6 members, made concentrating on Abasciano a key marketing campaign promise.
Abasciano advised The Gateway Pundit:
“My union management made false allegations about what I stated and the place I used to be that day. This launched a full inside and federal investigation. The results of the unique investigations discovered I used to be concerned with completely no legal exercise and my tweets have been constitutionally protected.
Then-candidate for Mayor and now-mayor Wu made a marketing campaign promise to terminate me for attending the rally. Mayor Wu was in the end elected, and her first act was to attempt to implement vaccine mandates and passports.
I, together with others, instantly challenged her mandates. I, together with one other Sergeant (Shana Cottone), have been blamed or credited for stopping the implementation of the Wu mandates. Wu first handed me over for promotion.
Then once I filed a discrimination grievance, she moved to terminate me primarily based on my J6 tweets. Merely put, I used to be purged from the ranks as a result of I pushed again in opposition to the Metropolis of Boston’s progressive machine.”
Now, the Massachusetts Civil Service Fee unanimously dominated that the Metropolis of Boston lacked “simply trigger” to terminate former Boston Police Officer Joseph Abasciano over nameless tweets he posted following the January 6, 2021, rally in Washington D.C.
In accordance with the press launch:
Boston Police Officer Joseph Abasciano, who was terminated in 2023 for anonymously tweeting in regards to the January 6, 2021 occasions in Washington D.C. has had his termination vacated by a choice of the Massachusetts Civil Service Fee on December 19, 2024.
The Civil Service Fee discovered that:
“[T]he proof confirmed that [Abasciano] didn’t interact in misconduct on January 6, 2021, that there was not simply trigger to justify any self-discipline in opposition to him … and that the BPD had not proven, past hypothesis, that his tweets negatively impacted the BPD’s operations or public mission.”
The Civil Service Fee discovered {that a} 2021 investigation that cleared Abasciano of any disciplinary violations was carried out extra completely than a second investigation carried out over a yr later beneath the incoming Mayor Michelle Wu administration.
The Fee decided that the second investigation was not sufficiently supported by credible proof and “exudes a tinge of being end result oriented.”
Important to the Fee’s discovering was that the tweets have been intrinsically constitutionally protected speech that would not be the topic of self-discipline as a result of there was no proof that Appellant’s political views within the tweets harmed the mission or operations of the BPD.
