MARION, Kan. (AP) – A small newspaper and a police department in Kansas are at the center of a dispute over freedom of expression as the newspaper struggled to get its next issue published Monday after the police searched the office and the home of its owner and publisher.
Marion Police Department officers confiscated computers and mobile phones by the publisher and staff of Marion County Record in Friday’s raid. On Monday, Kansas state authorities confirmed they are also involved in a criminal investigation into the newspaper over allegations that it illegally obtained and used personal information about a local business owner.
Friday’s raids were widely condemned by press freedom watchers as a flagrant violation of the US Constitution’s protections of the free press. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called the raids “worrying.” A lawyer for the newspaper said the searches and seizures were illegal and said the police agency’s actions “violated the constitutional protections afforded to the free press by the founding fathers.” The Society of Professional Journalists has pledged $20,000 to defend the newspaper.
However, some residents of Marion disagree, accusing the newspaper of aggressive reporting that drove out businesses and painted a negative image of the town of about 1,900 residents.
Newspaper publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer said he believes the newspaper’s persistent coverage of local politics and Police Chief Gideon Cody’s record was the main reason for the raids. The Record was digging into the newly hired chief’s past as a Kansas City, Missouri, police captain when the raids were conducted, Meyer said, though the paper has yet to publish an article.
The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes of Kansas City, sent a letter to the Cody urging police not to review any information about the seized computers or cell phones. He said they were illegally stolen and contained identities of confidential sources. He also accuses Cody of misinterpreting privacy laws and misapplying them to news reporters.
“I can assure you that the agency will take all steps to recover the damages that your persistent actions have already caused my client,” Rhodes said.
The police raid appears to have sparked a complaint from local restaurant owner Kari Newell, who accused the newspaper of invading her privacy after receiving copies of her driver’s license, including a conviction for drunk driving in 2008. Newell says the newspaper has her targeted after she evicted Meyer and a reporter from her restaurant during a political event earlier this month.
Meyer says a source gave the newspaper the information unsolicited and reporters checked it against online public records. The paper eventually decided not to run a story, but reported Newell’s grievances about the paper’s investigation into a city council meeting where she publicly acknowledged that she had been convicted of drunk driving and that she was driving after her license was revoked had been.
The search warrant names Newell as a victim and cites suspected identity theft and “computer-related unlawful activity” as the reason for the searches.
Both Meyer and Newell said they sent messages – and some threats – even from London after the raids. Meyer worked with his staff Monday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for Wednesday’s next issue.
Cody defended the newsroom raid, saying it was carried out legally, while press freedom and civil rights organizations said the police had exceeded their powers.
Jared Smith, a lifelong resident of Marion, said Monday that he supported the police raid. Smith accused the newspaper of ruining his wife’s day spa business, which opened just a year ago, by delving into her past and discovering she had appeared nude in a magazine years earlier. That fact was repeated in the record more than 20 times over a six-month period, Smith said.
“The newspaper should be something that actually reports news. But it’s also a community newspaper,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘How can I beat up this community and evict people?'” ”
Authorities appeared unprepared for the public backlash to the raids, as the authorities involved either declined to comment Monday or struggled to recognize the constitutional right to a free press while also protecting the police’s ability to crack down on journalists to investigate, defended.
Cody referred questions to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation Monday and said it was leading the investigation. The state agency, in turn, refused to say it had taken over the investigation, instead citing a statement that it had “joined” the investigation and appeared to be trying to distance itself from the raids.
The state police agency said it assigned an agent to the case at Cody’s request on Aug. 8 — three days before the raids — but did not apply for the search warrants and was not present when they were executed. While declaring freedom of the press as “an avant-garde of American democracy,” the agency also appeared to defend the actions of local police, saying, “No one is above the law, whether public servant or member of the media.”
Both Meyer and Newell are considering lawsuits — Newell against the newspaper and Meyer against the officers who conducted the search.
Meyer also blames the raid on his home for stressing his 98-year-old mother so much that she died on Saturday. Joan Meyer was a co-owner of the newspaper.
Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
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