‘Unprecedented’ raid on Kansas newspaper causes publisher’s death, son says
Joan Meyer, the co-owner of the Marion County Record, passed away on Aug. 12, 2023, at home. She was 98. (Courtesy: Marion County Record)
A 98-year-old woman who co-owned a Kansas newspaper died one day after the local police department raided her home and seized virtually everything in her newsroom in an act condemned by press freedom advocates across the globe.
The Marion County Record has confirmed the death of Joan Meyer, who shares ownership of the newspaper with her son.
The massive operation, which involved the entire Marion Police Department force, took place on Friday.
But what were the police doing executing search warrants at the home of a newspaper publisher and her newsroom?
As information about the raid continues to unfold, the motive behind the unprecedented move is becoming clearer.
According to Eric Meyer, publisher and co-owner of the Record, the publication "had been looking into allegations of misconduct" by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody in recent months.
Cody, who earns an annual base salary of $60,000 in his role as police chief, has only been on the job since May 31.
Among the materials seized were computers, cell phones, and other reporting materials, representing a dangerous overreach by law enforcement against the press — sending the message they are above reproach or accountability.
Eric Meyer has also told reporters he attributes his mother’s death to the stress she suffered following the raid, noting she was in otherwise good health before the traumatic event.
An editorial in the Marion County Record described the toll the raid took on Joan Meyer, describing her as stressed and overwhelmed "by hours of shock and grief."
Unable to eat or sleep the night of the raid, she collapsed less than 24 hours later and died at home.
By removing her electronics, including her cell phone and Alexa smart speakers, Meyer wasn’t able to call for help.
Press freedom groups, media outlets call for return of seized materials
The scandal has made headlines nationwide, with dozens of news organizations and press freedom groups signing onto a letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press addressed to Cody.
"Newsroom searches and seizures are among the most intrusive actions law enforcement can take with respect to the free press, and the most potentially suppressive of free speech by the press and the public," the letter begins.
Among the newsrooms that signed on to the letter are The Associated Press, The New York Times Company, and The Washington Post.
They are joined by press freedom groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists.
"We urge you to immediately return the seized material to the Record, to purge any records that may already have been accessed, and to initiate a full independent and transparent review of your department’s actions," the Reporters Committee said.
Noting that the now-public search warrant and Cody’s public statements to the media prove there is "no justification for the breadth and intrusiveness of the search."
Not only that, the letter argues the police department may have violated a federal law that strictly limits the police’s ability to conduct newsroom searches.
Cody himself acknowledged in a public statement that the federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980 "protects that flow of information to journalists by prohibiting law enforcement, including local agencies, from searching for or seizing journalistic work product or documentary materials, except in narrow, exceptional circumstances."
While Cody may believe his police department met those circumstances, a judge may have a different opinion.
The letter noted that the Department of Justice requires the Attorney General to personally sign off on the warrant before any police department can execute it on "the premises of a news media entity."
According to the Record, Cody "forcibly grabbed reporter Deb Gruver’s personal cell phone out of her hand," causing a reinjury to her finger that had been previously dislocated.
"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."
A lawsuit is expected to be filed against the City of Marion, the paper added.
"Your department’s seizure of this equipment has substantially interfered with the Record’s First Amendment-protected newsgathering in this instance," the letter continues, "and the department’s actions risk chilling the free flow of information in the public interest more broadly, including by dissuading sources from speaking to the Record and other Kansas news media in the future."
It’s only the beginning
Civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis also spoke out against the raid, saying he has "never seen anything like this."
"For every police raid on a newspaper investigating the corrupt police chief, there’s a city council raising the police budget for ‘training,’ a company started by professors to train better raids on newspapers, and a law school who puts them all on a ‘police reform’ panel," Karakatsanis tweeted Monday.
After all, the Kansas Record raid is just a blueprint for more press freedom violations by law enforcement in America.