The former Suffolk County district attorney is defending her rare public criticism of a judge after a reduced sentence for a man now back in the spotlight.
25 Investigates first reported that Tyler Brown was the same man convicted in a 2020 shootout with Boston police. Prosecutors at the time, led by then–District Attorney Rachael Rollins, had asked for a significantly longer sentence than what was handed down.
Rollins said she spoke out publicly because she believed the sentence did not match the severity of the case.
“I felt like it was necessary. This was a documented, dangerous individual,” said Rollins.
Rollins had requested a 10- to 12-year sentence. The judge instead imposed a 5- to 6-year sentence, and Brown ultimately served even less.
In a rare move for a prosecutor, Rollins issued a press release at the time sharply criticizing the decision.
“I don’t wanna disparage this judge, but I did take the rare step of issuing a press release because I felt like it was an egregious failure. And I wanted it on the record that I believed, you know, the police officer that was almost killed back in 2020, and his family and the other officers that were shot upon, they deserved an apology. I knew the judiciary wasn’t going to give it, so in my press release I apologized to them for the failure of the system and said that we were fighting to get people sentences that they deserved when they engage in incredibly violent criminal conduct.”
In a new interview with Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh, Rollins also addressed the broader challenge of balancing accountability with rehabilitation.
25 Investigates has reported Brown was part of a reentry program through Tufts University as recently as December, 2025. The program helps incarcerated students earn a degree in civic studies.
“So, we have to make sure that we’re thinking creatively about ways that we can hold people accountable, but we can keep communities safe,” Rollins said. “So I don’t know whether there have to be some more safeguards in place when people, you know, part of his probation or parole requirements was taking his medication every day, getting mental health treatment. If we can’t trust people to do that, then we maybe need a little bit more oversight. But my hope is that we’re going to learn from this. I’m so grateful that this was not a mass casualty event. I mean, it is remarkable that nobody lost their lives, and yes, there are two people clinging to their lives right now, but this could have been dozens of fatalities, but for the quick actions of law enforcement, we are not dealing with that today. But there’s going to have to be some cleanup after this to see what we need to do differently.”
Rollins has filed paperwork to run again for Suffolk County district attorney, though she has not officially announced her candidacy.
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