MARION, Kan. — A small central Kansas police department is facing a firestorm of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner — a move deemed by several press freedom watchdogs as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution's protection of a free press.
The Marion County Record said in its own published reports that police raided the newspaper's office on Friday, seizing the newspaper's computers, phones and file server and the personal cellphones of staff, based on a search warrant. One Record reporter suffered an injury to a finger when Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody wrested her cellphone out of her hand, according to the report.
Police simultaneously raided the home of Eric Meyer, the newspaper's publisher and co-owner, seizing computers, his cellphone and the home's internet router, Meyer said. Meyer's 98-year-old mother — Record co-owner Joan Meyer, who lived in the home with her son — collapsed and died Saturday, Meyer said, blaming her death on the stress of the raid of her home.
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Meyer said he believes the raid was prompted by a story published last week about a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. Newell had police remove Meyer and a newspaper reporter from her restaurant early this month, who were there to cover a public reception for U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican representing the area. The police chief and other officials also attended and were acknowledged at the reception, and the Marion Police Department highlighted the event on its Facebook page.
LaTurner's office did not immediately return phone messages left Sunday at his Washington and district offices seeking comment.
The next week at a city council meeting, Newell publicly accused the newspaper of using illegal means to get information on the status of her driver's license following a 2008 drunken driving conviction and other driving violations. The newspaper countered that it received that information unsolicited and verified it through public online records. It eventually decided not to run a story, because it wasn't sure the source who supplied it had obtained it legally. But the newspaper did run a story on the city council meeting, in which Newell herself confirmed she'd had a DUI conviction and that she continued to drive even after her license was suspended.
Meyer also noted that the newspaper was looking into the police chief's background and why he left the Kansas City, Missouri, police department before being hired in April as chief.
A two-page search warrant, signed by a local judge, lists Newell as the victim of alleged crimes by the newspaper. When the newspaper asked for a copy of the probable cause affidavit required by law to issue a search warrant, the district court issued a signed statement saying no such affidavit was on file, the Record reported.
Newell declined to comment Sunday.
