Local police searched the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its 98-year-old co-owner in rural Kansas on Friday as part of an identity theft investigation, sparking outcry in the journalism industry and by free press advocates over concerns the police were stifling free speech.

What You Need To Know

  • Local police searched the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its 98-year-old co-owner in rural Kansas on Friday as part of an identity theft investigation
  • The searches, which included the seizure of computers and cellphones, sparked outcry in the journalism industry and by free press advocates over concerns the police were stifling free speech
  • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, called the searches "concerning" and expressed her support for local journalism as "essential to protecting" small towns and democracy

  • The investigation, according to the Record, is apparently connected to accusations of identity theft and unlawful computer acts by a local restaurateur whose drunken driving record was sent to the paper. The Record ultimately decided not to publish a report on the files they received

  • The 98-year-old co-owner of the paper and the current publisher’s mother, Joan Meyer, died the day after her home was searched; the Record attempted to connect the death to the search
  • Representatives for Kansas Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, and Rep. Jake LaTurner, whose district encompasses Marion, did not respond to requests for comment

In its own report on the police action, Marion County Record described the searches as “illegal police raids” and said they plan to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Marion and law enforcement there, citing legal experts who were “unanimous in saying [the searches] violated multiple state and federal laws, including the U.S. Constitution.”

“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” the Record’s publisher, Eric Meyer, said in the article. “But we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”

The investigation, according to the Record, is apparently connected to accusations of identity theft and unlawful computer acts by a local restaurateur whose drunken driving record was sent to the paper and Marion city Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel via social media. The Record ultimately decided not to publish a report on the files they received, but the restaurateur, Kari Newell, reportedly accused the journalists of pretending to be her as they sought to verify the documents. 

The paper reported police arrived at the Record’s offices on Friday and seized computers and other equipment.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, called the searches "concerning" and expressed her support for local journalism as "essential to protecting" small towns and democracy.

“What we’ve seen so far about the search and seizure of the Marion County Record newsroom is concerning. Protecting local newspapers is essential to protecting our small towns — and protecting a free and fair press is essential to protecting our democracy," Kelly said in a statement. "I will wait for more information from any pending investigations before commenting further.”

Newell appeared before the city council last week to apply for a liquor license. A drunken driving conviction could be a disqualifying factor, the Record wrote.

Newell could not be reached for comment.

The search warrant, signed by a local judge, may violate a federal law intended to protect journalists from searches and seizures by requiring the higher threshold of a subpoena instead of just a warrant, according to an analysis by the law firm McGuireWoods, which works on First Amendment and newsroom cases.

Marion city police chief Gideon Cody denied his department had broken the law.

“As much as I would like to give everyone details on a criminal investigation I cannot. I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated,” Cody wrote in an email to Spectrum News. 

The federal Privacy Protection Act “does protect journalists from most searches of newsrooms by federal and state law enforcement officials. It is true that in most cases, it requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote, noting he was speaking in generalities.

The 98-year-old co-owner of the paper and the current publisher’s mother, Joan Meyer, died the day after her home was searched; the Record attempted to connect the death to the search.

Joan Meyer “collapsed Saturday afternoon and died” hours after police searched her home, confiscated her computer and a router, and took photographs of her son’s personal financial documents, according to the paper. The Record described her as “stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief,” but “otherwise in good health for her age.”

“She had not been able to eat after police showed up at the door of her home Friday with a search warrant in hand,” the article reads. “Neither was she able to sleep Friday night.

Within hours, she would be dead.

Herbel’s home was also raided on Friday, the Record reported. The 80-year-old’s cell phone and computer were seized, forcing Herbel to purchase a replacement phone so she could stay in contact with her 88-year-old husband, who is disabled and suffers from dementia, according to the paper.

Herbel did not immediately return a request for comment made through the city of Marion’s website.

PEN America, a century-old nonprofit that works to protect free expression, also decried the searches as anti-democratic.

“Such egregious attempts to interfere with news reporting cannot go unchecked in a democracy,” said Shannon Jankowski, the director of PEN America’s journalism and disinformation program, in a statement. 

Representatives for Kansas Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, and Rep. Jake LaTurner, whose district encompasses Marion, did not respond to requests for comment.

LaTurner was reportedly at a forum hosted last week by Newell at her restaurant, where she recruited Cody to kick reporters out, per local media.