“Turtleboy” journalist Aidan Kearney says he didn’t anticipate an appreciation post for his coverage on the Karen Read criminal case from disgraced former Massachusetts US Attorney Rachael Rollins.

Moments after the jury acquitted Read of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, Rollins showered Kearney with praise in a post on X.

“Without (turtle emoji) boy, does anyone know or care about the KR trial?” Rollins wrote in the post. “His relentless reporting — in the face of repeatedly being told by law enforcement that he was wrong & there was ‘nothing to see here’ – cracked this case wide open.

“That should not be lost in all of the reporting,” the former federal prosecutor and Suffolk County district attorney added.

A majority of Read’s supporters have said that Kearney’s coverage hooked them into following the case. Turtleboy began his “Canton Coverup” series in April 2023, when Rollins was still serving as the Massachusetts US Attorney.

Kearney responded to Rollins’ support earlier this week, saying her post caught him by surprise.

“I can’t believe I’m just seeing this now (and didn’t have it on my bingo card) but Rachael Rollins made a post publicly thanking me for my relentless reporting,” Kearney wrote in an X post on Monday. “I have criticized her extensively over the years (to the point where she blocked me and I can’t retweet this), but at least she has the dignity to put aside our differences and say this.”

Kearney served as a prominent voice in the Free Karen Read movement, being indicted on 16 counts of witness intimidation in the case.

A Norfolk Superior judge dropped six of the 16 counts last month.

Rollins resigned from her role as the state’s top prosecutor in May 2023 after being scorched in two federal reports that declared she abused her position. The probes came after Rollins violated the Hatch Act by attending a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Andover that was headlined by former First Lady Jill Biden.

The Department of Justice also found that Rollins leaked sensitive information to the media about now-Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden in an attempt to influence the outcome of the DA’s race in favor of his opponent, ex-Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.

Rollins bounced back and now has a six-figure job with Roxbury Community College. She is paid an annual salary of $109,852 as a program executive director.