Police Raid of Small-Town Kansas Newspaper Sparks National Conversation on Speaking Truth to Power

Eric Meyer, the editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, answers questions about a raid by local police and sheriff's deputies on his newspaper's newsroom and his home, in Marion, Kan., on Aug. 13, 2023. AP Photo/John Hanna

When a small-town Kansas newsroom was raided by local police a week ago, it touched a nerve nationwide that put the issue of government overreach front and center.

The story started on Aug. 11, when the Marion County Police Department, led by Chief Gideon Cody, raided the Marion County Record and the home of its co-owners, Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer.

Ms. Myer, who was reportedly stressed by the raid, died the next day. She had referred to the raid as “Hitler tactics,” according to news accounts.

Mr. Cody hasn’t responded to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.

Four Marion police officers and three sheriff’s deputies seized computers, servers, and the cellphones of editors and reporters after local restaurateur Kari Newell found out the newspaper was investigating her over DUI allegations, according to the newspaper’s website.

And it came to light that the newspaper had also been investigating the police chief, news outlets reported.

The latest twist reported by the Wichita Eagle is that Laura Via, the Kansas magistrate who signed off on the search warrant, was arrested twice for DUI in 2012.

Speaking Truth to Power

Tom Garrett, chief communications officer with the Institute for Free Speech, told The Epoch Times that the case received such wide attention because it’s about speaking truth to power.

The idea that government can trample the rights of people holding it accountable—journalists in this case—strikes Americans as “foreign,” Mr. Garrett said.

A coalition of grassroots citizens' groups came together to protest vaccination mandates and government overreach in Royal Oak, Mich., on Nov. 3, 2021 Steven Kovac/Epoch Times

“It’s like it comes from a totalitarian regime or third-world country,” he said.

Jonathan Hullihan, a Texas attorney for the watchdog group Citizens Defending Freedom, said he believes it’s a sign people are fed up with what they see as government overreach.

He pointed to the meteoric rise of the country song “Rich Men North of Richmond” about poor workers struggling under the yoke of wealthy elites as a testament to that sentiment.

“It’s a powder keg. I mean, people are sick of it. They’re sick of the government overreach. They’re sick of the weaponization of government,” Mr. Hullihan said.

Unwarranted Seizure

Mr. Meyer, editor and publisher of the Marion paper, told The Epoch Times the seized equipment was turned over to the publication’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes.

“We have not gotten it back yet because he is having it forensically analyzed to determine if they actually did anything to it,” Mr. Meyer said.

​​Police also seized the newspaper’s file server and equipment that was unrelated to the search but was needed to continue publishing the newspaper, Mr. Meyer said.

An empty spot on reporter Phyllis Zorn's desk shows where the tower for her computer sat before law enforcement officers seized it in a raid on the Marion County Record, in Marion County, Kan., on Aug. 13, 2023. John Hanna/AP Photo

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said in a statement that the raid on the newspaper wasn’t justified and advised that the seized items be returned.

A warrant signed by Judge Via indicated that the raid was conducted to help determine whether the paper improperly used a local restaurant owner’s personal information to access her state driving record online, according to news accounts.

Probable cause affidavits alleged that an employee of the Marion County Record used a computer to commit a crime, according to a statement by Mr. Ensey.

But after further review of the case, Mr. Ensey said “insufficient evidence” existed for the searches.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) stated in a news release this week that the investigation remained open but that none of the evidence seized would be examined.

Mr. Meyer has said publicly the paper did nothing illegal.

The KBI took over the case after news of the raid spread, garnering support from news organizations and watchdog groups nationwide for the newspaper serving the town of about 2,000.

The most recently printed issue of the Marion County Record sits in a display in its office in Marion, Kan., on Aug. 13, 2023. John Hanna/AP Photo

Justice for All

Mr. Hullihan said the public has become concerned that equal justice under the law is no longer a given.

“You know, people are outraged at these things because they’re just everywhere they look, the usurpation of liberty,” he said.

Mr. Garrett said that there is always the possibility of abuse of power by the government, which makes a free independent press vital to a free country.

The raid of a family-owned newspaper in Marion County demonstrates that it isn’t just the federal government that needs to be checked. The freedom to speak can be subverted just as easily on the local and state levels, Mr. Garrett said.

“Government overreach isn’t necessarily some big, powerful, faceless federal bureaucracy. It can be that, but it could be a local county attorney or a local school board or any number of government actors,” Mr. Garrett said.

The silver lining to the story is that the Kansas raid seemed to galvanize the idea that the right to free speech is still part of America’s political landscape, Mr. Garrett said.

“Even in these politically charged times, when people are very divided ... you see people from across the political spectrum coming together condemning it,” he said.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.