BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s controversial nominee to the state Parole Board was narrowly rejected Wednesday by a 4-3 Governor’s Council vote at the State House, after an emotional debate over public safety, victims’ rights and criminal justice reform.
The debate repeatedly circled back to last week’s chaotic Memorial Drive shooting, where Boston parolee Tyler Brown, 46 — described in court records as a felon with an assault rifle and a history of violence against police officers — is accused of opening fire, critically wounding three people.
Moments before the attack, Brown’s parole officer had seen him on FaceTime “waving around a semi‑automatic rifle” and vowing he wasn’t “going back to jail,” a warning that hung heavily over the council’s vote on Wednesday…