Small town Kansas police search homes and offices of Marion County Record newspaper
Computers, cell phones and other work and personal materials of journalists in a small Kansas town have been seized by local police, the newspaper reported.
Marion police and Marion County sheriff's deputies served the warrants Friday morning on the Marion County Record office, the Record reported. Law enforcement seized the file serve and other equipment necessary for publishing the weekly newspaper.
A call to the newspaper offices wasn't immediately returned Saturday afternoon.
"Our first priority is to be able to publish next week," publisher Eric Meyer said in a story on the newspaper's website, "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 newspaper threatened to file a federal lawsuit.
Officials at the Marion Police Department said in Facebook post that it is an ongoing criminal investigation and thus cannot provide details.
"I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated," the department post read.
The Record reported that the warrants alleged identity theft and unlawful computer acts had been committed involving a local restaurant owner. The newspaper reported that it was provided with information, which had been obtained from a public website, but decided not to publish it.
Meyer, a retired journalism professor of journalism at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been the longtime editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin. He and his mother, Joan Meyer, are co-owners of Hoch Publishing. His late father, Bill Meyer, was the longtime journalist in Marion and is in the Kansas Press Association Hall of Fame.
Joan Meyer's home was also subjected to a police search, as was the home of vice mayor Ruth Herbel, the newspaper reported.
"An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public's right to know," said Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association. "The proper procedure would have been to use subpoena power to obtain the records — not an unannounced search on a news outlet. This sets a terrible precedent, and we stand with the Marion County Record to help however we can."
Police in their statement did acknowledge federal law that protects journalist from most searches and seizures, but police also pointed to an exception for "when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing."
"The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police is to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of all members of the public," the Facebook post read. "This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences, in order to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection, and the rule of law for everyone in the community. The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will nothing less."
Reporter Jason Alatidd previously worked at the Marion County Record for about four months in 2017.
He is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas police search homes, offices of Marion County Record newspaper
