Two candidates for district attorney in Massachusetts, one up for re-election in Middlesex County and the other a former U.S. Attorney who resigned in disgrace over numerous alleged ethics violations, signed a pledge in 2020 promising to never accept endorsements or campaign donations from police unions.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and former U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, who is now running to reclaim her former seat as Suffolk DA, signed a pledge by the Justice Collaborative Institute – a progressive anti-police movement created in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Rollins’ and Ryan’s pictures are featured on a list of other district attorneys across the country who signed the 2020 pledge on the now defunct website dumpcopcash.com, which calls for DA candidates to promise to decline “any campaign endorsements or contributions made by a law enforcement union.” Former Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington also signed the pledge.
An archive of the website before it was shut down shows headshots of DA Ryan and then-Suffolk DA Rollins among dozens of signatories, along with their notable Democratic counterparts in various districts across the U.S. The website documented even more attorneys who either did not respond to the request or declined to sign it in an apparent attempt to pressure them into doing so.
“As prosecutors, we play a fundamental role in the criminal legal system. How we act in that role affects both how the system operates and how people perceive how the system operates. Because of this, regardless of our actions in the past, we are joining others in committing that will not accept campaign endorsements or contributions from police unions going forward,” the Justice Collaborative pledge reads.
The pledge goes on to state that campaign endorsements and contributions send a “perceived (if not actual) impression that the elected official is beholden to that group.”
The pledge was signed in the weeks following Floyd’s death and as several violent protests over the incident erupted across major U.S. cities, including in Boston. The protests were paired with calls by prominent national Democrats supporting the “defund the police” movement, including Sen. Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, among others.
“Across the country, ongoing protests against police brutality and racial oppression have sent a loud and clear message that change is needed. Protesters have drawn critical attention to a criminal legal system that has caused immense pain and injustice and does not even aim to keep all of us safe,” the pledge said. “As key actors in that system, we cannot cling to the status quo and pretend there are no issues with the way things have been done. We need to change by separating ourselves from law enforcement unions.”
There is no mention of the pledge by Ryan or her signing of it on the Middlesex DA’s website or any of her social media or campaign materials.
Rollins told the Herald on Tuesday that she doesn’t regret signing the pledge.
“In 2018, I proudly received the endorsement of the MBTA Transit Police union, along with various other law enforcement supporters. During my career and tenure as District Attorney and United States Attorney, I collaborated with law enforcement to enhance public safety in our communities and will continue to do so in the future. I am the proud daughter of a Navy Corpsman, Disabled Vietnam Veteran and former Correctional Officer,” Rollins said.
“In 2020, during the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and as horrific allegations began to surface about Patrick Rose, who led the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, I signed the “justice collaborative pledge”. Both nationally and locally there was outrage regarding these acts of police misconduct and universal demands for police reform,” she said.
Rose, the longtime leader of the BPPA, was sentenced in 2022 to 10 to 13 years in prison along with 10 years supervised release after pleading guilty to 21 counts of child rape and sexual assault that occurred over a 27-year period.
Ryan’s Democratic primary opponent, Middlesex Assistant DA David Solet, has earned the endorsements of over 40 police unions.
“Yes, of course police accountability is important – everything we do in criminal justice has to flow from legitimacy. But the Defund the Police movement was wrong from the beginning – wrong on substance, wrong on policy, and a disaster for communities where working people live,” Solet told the Herald.
The Justice Collaborative pledge was against accepting political donations, not a vow to defund police.
In a recent interview with a local news outlet in Newton, Ryan attributed her lack of any endorsements from police unions this election cycle to her signing of the pledge.
“So he can have an endorsement from every city and town because I don’t take them,” Ryan told Fig City News. “That doesn’t mean it was a fair fight.”
Ryan explained to the outlet that she does not accept police union endorsements to ensure the public does not question whether political support from the police would influence her office’s prosecutions of and investigations into police officers.
But according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), Ryan has accepted numerous campaign contributions from defense attorneys – a group that could also be considered a conflict of interest.
Pledge signed by list of troubled Democrats
The Justice Collaborative pledge included other signatories from across the country, including former Baltimore District Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who was convicted of mortgage fraud and perjury in federal court in 2024. She had previously been convicted of perjury in a separate trial. Mosby was first elected in 2015, serving two terms before losing her re-election bid in 2022.
Another signatory includes former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, who was raised by former operatives in the Weather Underground terrorist organization. Serving just one term from 2018-2022, Boudin faced criticism during his tenure for releasing suspects of dangerous crimes and repeat offenders from custody who would go on to commit further crimes. Boudin was thrown out of office following a June 2022 recall election. He is now the founding executive director of Berkeley Law School’s Criminal Law and Justice Center.
Former Ingham County, MI District Attorney Carol Siemon signed the pledge as well. Siemon faced criticism for reducing felony gun charges to a misdemeanor for the man who went on to carry out the 2023 Michigan State University mass shooting.
The Herald has requested comment from Ryan and Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden.
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