Police face criticism over central Kansas newspaper raid

Police face criticism over central Kansas newspaper raid in which computers, phones seized
ByJOHN HANNA and MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press
August 13, 2023, 3:02 PM

. . . 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.

. . . 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.

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 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, which it verified 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 had continued to drive even after her license was suspended.

. . . 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, saying she was too busy to speak. She said she would call back later Sunday to answer questions.

Cody, the police chief, defended the raid on Sunday, saying in an email to The Associated Press that while federal law usually requires a subpoena — not just a search warrant — to raid a newsroom, there is an exception “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”

abcnews.go.com

So, they have a loophole, sort of. Seems like this Newell person was connected and had influence over the court and police concerning this complaint she made. It sounds like something that could happen in my corrupt county court system.

Righteous citizens usually get the boot from these city council meetings for bringing up issues not on the docket, yet his person gets the police to raid this hometown newspaper causing a death. Corruption, pure and simple, IMO.

Here is a link to the newspaper so you can check it out before they shut it down . . .

marionrecord.com

From the Marion Record article . . .

Legal experts contacted by the Record termed the raid unheard of in America and reminiscent of what occurs in totalitarian regimes and the Third World.

The Record is expected to file a federal suit against the City of Marion and those involved in the search, which legal experts contacted were unanimous in saying violated multiple state and federal laws, including the U.S. Constitution, and multiple court rulings.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck


WTF!

The pace is picking up, good lord can you imagine where we would be if they had held majority in the house and senate.

Before anyone goes this is a local problem... my comeback point is trickle down from the top.

If the police believe the powers that be support this sort of thing, they will do this sort of thing, lot of shady stuff been happening in DC in the open lately its inevitable that more shady stuff would happen at the local level.

From what I understand is that this Newell woman who owns a local restaurant, who has clout with politicians and the local city council, accused the newspaper of obtaining information on her, concerning a DUI, through illegal means. She did this at a council meeting and got the city council to have a judge order the raid conducted by the city police. The newspaper received the information from a source and then checked it out with public records and did a report based on the public records. To me, it sounds like they were set up by this Newell person and the city council basically.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

The council and the cops couldn't do a little homework and interview newspaper staff to figure this out in short order? If we have the whole story, their actions were completely unnecessary and they know it.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
From what I understand is that this Newell woman who owns a local restaurant, who has clout with politicians and the local city council, accused the newspaper of obtaining information on her, concerning a DUI, through illegal means. She did this at a council meeting and got the city council to have a judge order the raid conducted by the city police. The newspaper received the information from a source and then checked it out with public records and did a report based on the public records. To me, it sounds like they were set up by this Newell person and the city council basically.

Nah man, it's even dumber than that. From the ABC article....

. 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 had continued to drive even after her license was suspended.

So they did NOT report the info they had obtained from the source even after verifying it via public records because they didn't know if the source obtained it legally. Then SHE HERSELF admits in a public forum at a city council meeting that she has this checkered driving history and so they reported on HER OWN statements at the city council meeting.

Totally ridiculous and I question the intelligence of anyone who tries to claim their privacy was violated by someone who is repeating THEIR OWN public statements. Wow.

a reply to: Ch1nch1lla

Yes, that is more accurate and it helps prove that these are trumped-up charges, just an excuse to unleash the court and the police on the newspaper for doing that report.

Still, there is probably more to this story, like maybe this small town newspaper goes after this woman and her restaurant constantly because there isn't any other news to report. Maybe they do that to people on the city council, the courts and the city police too. Maybe they are getting the treatment because of the treatment they gave out, not saying that makes this OK, just saying.

There was some kind of a confrontation at her restaurant during a political event where she had the police escort them out, so there is bad blood there IMO.

A crooked judge grants a search warrant to a crooked police department at the behest of a crooked politician, and all they face is "criticism."

What this country needs is judges willing to issue search warrants for to average citizens for police stations. Imagine getting a group of guys together and going to a police station with a warrant. Throw all the cops out, toss the place, and walk off with all the weapons, vehicles, and computers.

Sauce for the goose.

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Sounds like fun. What evidence do we plant... Erm... Hope to find?


This sounds like the Streisand affect that turned into a police farce.

originally posted by: VictorVonDoom
A crooked judge grants a search warrant to a crooked police department at the behest of a crooked politician, and all they face is "criticism."

What this country needs is judges willing to issue search warrants for to average citizens for police stations. Imagine getting a group of guys together and going to a police station with a warrant. Throw all the cops out, toss the place, and walk off with all the weapons, vehicles, and computers.

Sauce for the goose.

Sounds good and I'm all for it but remember the 'left' wanted to 'defund the police'. This could be just another step towards getting rid of the current system and replacing it with something worse for us. We need the police, good non-corrupt police. Without them the world would be something similar seen in The Purge

originally posted by: beyondknowledge2
a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Sounds like fun. What evidence do we plant... Erm... Hope to find?

Strangely enough, there will be no evidence. Even the evidence locker will be empty. But, hey, it was like that when we got there.

As with many things the truth or evidence does not matter when all you want to do is intimidate !

One has to wonder why a local restaurant owner having a prior DUI record would be worthy of a story from the local newspaper.

Me thinks there might be more to this story....

I also heard that there were questions being asked as to why Police Chief Cody left the KCMO police department, with the rank of Capitan, to go be the chief of police in a little Kansas podunk town of less than 2000 people. Apparently the reporters that were working on the story kept getting stonewalled from not only the city council but also authorities in Kansas City.

Something smells a bit rotten about the whole thing to me. My conspiracy senses are a-tingling.

a reply to: Moon68

Good points, thanks.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Sounds like the Biden Cartel and FBI on a small town scale in east Podunk.

I live in KC and know these people. This is beyond ridiculous and is almost "Hatfield & McCoy" level small town boogan idiot # with massive amounts of corruption. But in the end, this dirty cop Gideon Cody, will be going to Federal prison. I might potentially speak at his sentencing. Years ago I took down a dirty Judge covering up crime for her law partner. I won a supreme court case regarding this.

originally posted by: TXRabbit
One has to wonder why a local restaurant owner having a prior DUI record would be worthy of a story from the local newspaper.

Me thinks there might be more to this story....

Yes, traditionally, newspapers love to sensationalize mistakes that citizens make, and when it is someone well known, it's even better. Newspapers don't care if they destroy someone's career, and they don't care when they "embellish" the story to get more readership. They will present a story to make the person of interest sound horrible to everyone. Suing a newspaper for libel is also a task most lawyers won't touch unless their retainer of big bucks is paid up front.

The city I live in has a newspaper just like I described, and I would love to see them get raided and humiliated.