‘Tactics of a totalitarian regime’: Marion County, Kansas newspaper publisher discusses police raid

By Andy Alcock and Nick Sloan

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    MARION COUNTY, Kansas (KMBC) — What’s being called an unprecedented raid on a small-town newspaper in the middle of Kansas is prompting outrage from its owner and publisher.

On Friday, police officers took computers, phones, and other material from the Marion County Record.

Marion is about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City.

“This is the jackboot Nazis, this is the Gestapo, this is Vladimir Putin. This is the tactics of a totalitarian regime,” said Eric Meyer, owner, and publisher of the Marion Record.

According to court records, at issue is a potential identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers case involving the driving record of a local restaurant owner.

In addition to the raid at the newspaper office in downtown Marion, police officers also raided the home of co-owner Joan Meyer, 98.

The day after the raid, Joan Meyer collapsed and died.

“She had lived in the same house for almost 70 years, will be 70 years later this month. It was her castle. She had done nothing wrong. She wasn’t involved in any of this. And police officers came and stood there for a lengthy period just watching her, just intruding on her space, and intimidating her,” said Eric Meyer, who’s also her son.

He said his mother wouldn’t eat or sleep after the raid and believes the stress of it killed her. “No question in my mind and frankly, I don’t think in the coroner’s mind either,” Meyer said.

He also said the only reason police officers knew about the document at the heart of the investigation is his reporter told them about it after obtaining it from a source.

Meyer said that information was also checked on a public website to verify it, but none of it was published.

Court records show the driving force behind the ongoing criminal investigation is Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody.

Cody applied for and obtained search warrants signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar.

According to Meyer, his newspaper has been investigating potentially questionable circumstances surrounding Chief Cody’s decision to leave the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department in April after nearly 24 years there to take the Marion job.

“We got inundated with calls and messages from people who had worked with him previously. None of them would go on the record. We asked him about it, he knew about our investigation. Does this color his thinking and in seeking this warrant? I don’t know,” Meyer said.

Chief Cody was unavailable for comment.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is leading the criminal probe after Marion Police Officers and Marion County Sheriff’s deputies participated in the raids.

A statement from KBI says in part, “The KBI is entrusted to investigate credible allegations of illegal activity without fear or favor. In order to investigate and gather facts, the KBI commonly executes search warrants on police departments, sheriff’s offices, and at city, county and state offices. We have investigated those who work at schools, churches and at all levels of public service. No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media.”

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly currently is not taking a position on whether the raids were justified or not.

“I think there is a lot more to know. And I think there are folks out there asking those questions. And I’m very anxious because I am a strong advocate for freedom of the press, freedom of speech,” she said.

You can watch Kelly’s full comments below:

The Freedom of the Press Foundation is taking a critical stance on the raids.

“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, and basic human decency. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves,” said Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy. “This looks like the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes. The anti-press rhetoric that’s become so pervasive in this country has become more than just talk and is creating a dangerous environment for journalists trying to do their jobs,” he said.

Meyer said he’s currently working with an attorney to potentially file a federal lawsuit in the aftermath of the raids.

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