A wave of applause and shouted support rose from a crowd dressed almost entirely in pink as a sheriff’s department van carrying Lindsay Clancy moved slowly past.
Roughly 400 women, wearing everything from soft blush and salmon to coral and bright hot pink, had gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to show solidarity with the 36-year-old defendant, who sat in a wheelchair behind the van’s darkened windows.
Some supporters said they had driven through the night from New York City, bringing their young children with them. Others made a seven-hour journey from Maine to be present for a case now being described as “America’s saddest murder trial.”
They had come to stand behind the mother of three, who is on trial accused of strangling her children — Cora, five, Dawson, three, and newborn Callan — during what has been described as a severe mental health crisis.
For Michelle, a pregnant mother who arrived with a friend and their three young children, the Lindsay Clancy case felt deeply personal.
“The healthcare failed her, and that’s just tragic. We’re both mothers and both experienced postpartum anxiety and depression,” she told Our News Outlet.
“It’s scary to speak out. You don’t want to get judged and you don’t want somebody to take your child.”
Her friend Mandy said their message was simple: “We want this to never happen again.”
Lindsay Clancy supporters created a sea of pink outside Plymouth Superior Court this morning
Many women brought their young children to the murder trial that has gripped the nation
The case has sparked a national debate about postpartum mental health issues
Clancy has already admitted that she strangled her children with exercise bands in the basement of her family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
But her defense team argued she did not know the consequences of her actions because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, an extremely rare condition that affects 0.1 percent of new mothers.
Prosecutors, however, claimed that Clancy carefully planned the January 2023 killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house so she could carry them out.
Court officers had put up yellow caution tape around the parking lot this morning in anticipation of the crowds.
When Our News Outlet arrived at 6.45am, around 40 supporters had gathered. Soon, that number ballooned ten-fold.
There were mothers, daughters, grandmothers and sisters. Some brought their children. Others came with their husbands, male relatives and friends.
Bright pink ribbons were handed out, while others wore ‘Team Lindsay’ and ‘Mental health matters’ shirts and pins reading ‘The Kevin Reddington fan club,’ referencing Clancy’s defense attorney.
Court staff had been warned that as many as 2,000 people could attend.
While large swathes of the public remain convinced Clancy is guilty and should face the consequences, everyone Our News Outlet spoke to outside court was firmly in Camp Clancy.
Several women said they felt they could have been Clancy. Many had struggled with postpartum depression or anxiety and said the mother-of-three’s experience of reaching out for help only to feel unsupported was painfully familiar.
‘I had postpartum depression and felt very alone,’ Kim said.
‘It could have been any of us. I think people are here because as mothers we felt what she felt at times. It sounds like how most women I know have felt at one time or another.
Clancy admits she strangled her three children – but claims she was in the grips of psychosis
The women had driven through the night from other states. Among them were mothers, mental health survivors and fellow nurses
Some people brought their children and spoke to Our News Outlet about their own experiences with postpartum mental illness
Similar to Clancy, Kim is a labor and delivery nurse. For her, it has also made her rethink how the system she works for cares for women with children.
Pam drove for an hour with a broken foot to be at the court.
‘I have struggled with mental illness most of my life. I know what it’s like to be on all kinds of medication. I truly, truly believe the system ruined her,’ she said.
Clancy isn’t the only person who has seen a groundswell of support throughout the trial – Reddington has also become an unlikely feminist hero.
Moments in which the 75-year-old, silver-haired veteran has held Clancy’s hand or put his arms around her as she sobbed have gone viral, while memes and GIFs of him flood the internet.
On Thursday morning, when Reddington’s green Hummer, complete with his iconic ‘NG’ license plates, drove into the courthouse parking lot, the sea of pink erupted in cheers.
He was mobbed by supporters and the media as he walked inside.
‘We love you, Kevin!’ several people shouted.
Earlier in the week, Our News Outlet saw women stopping him to say ‘you’re a legend.’ Another approached him with a handwritten letter.
Clancy with her husband Patrick Clancy and two oldest children Cora, five, and Dawson, three
Aimee Breault of Acushnet, Massachusetts, livestreams the rally where attendees were encouraged to dress in pink
The biggest cheer of the day came when a black police van carrying Lindsay Clancy arrived
The supporters outside the court today cheered loudest when Clancy arrived in her police caravan.
Whether intentional or not, she matched them in a dusky pink T-shirt.
Outside, the group gathered around organizer Renee before breaking into the Lord’s Prayer and a moment of silence. They raised their hands in heart shapes. Some wiped away tears.
But while Clancy’s trial has fueled an outpouring of support for women struggling with postpartum mental health, there is a darker side to the online support.
For some, it appears to be less about supporting Clancy than peddling baseless conspiracies, particularly involving her ex-husband Patrick.
Vile rumors have accused the grief-stricken father of being involved in the killings, despite Clancy’s admission and the absence of evidence supporting the claim.
Several of Clancy’s supporters on Thursday morning echoed some of the conspiracies that have swirled online. ‘He did it!’ one woman insisted to Our News Outlet.
This obsession with criminal trials – both for good and bad – is not new, but it is a growing phenomenon.
In recent years, other high-profile trials have drawn devotees to social media and courthouses.
Flags from other countries show how the trial has gone global
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s 75-year-old attorney, best known for representing the girlfriend of notorious mobster James Whitey Bulger, has become perhaps an unlikely feminist hero
Last year, in nearby Canton, when Karen Read went on trial for a second time over the death of her boyfriend, Boston officer John O’Keefe, she came to symbolize a revolt against police corruption.
The color worn in solidarity with Read was also pink, and O’Keefe’s family faced harassment from some supporters.
For others, attending a day of testimony is less about a cause and more of a tourist attraction or a hobby.
One husband and wife told Our News Outlet last week that they tend to pick a trial and travel to watch it together from their home in Maryland.
They had recently attended the Alex Murdaugh and Donna Adelson trials. Now it was Clancy’s turn.
It’s a phenomenon that has grown in recent years.
When Bryan Kohberger was sentenced last summer, another group of women who travel to trials together camped outside the courthouse from 9pm the night before.
And during the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, fans dressed as pirates outside the Virginia courthouse.
As the black sheriff’s department van carrying Clancy pulled up at the courthouse, there was no doubt she heard the roar of support outside.
Whatever the verdict, the case has already become something much bigger than Lindsay Clancy herself.
