First Amendment Concerns Raised After Police Seize Materials From Small-Town Kansas Newspaper Office and Staff Homes During Raid

A small-town newspaper in Kansas is raising First Amendment questions on a national level after local police raided its office and homes of staffers on Friday, seizing material linked to alleged identity theft violations.

Marion County Record, a family-owned weekly newspaper published in the midwestern state about 60 miles north of Wichita, was named in a search warrant signed by Marion County Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar on Friday morning, which alleges violations of identity theft and “unlawful acts concerning computers.” CNN reported.

Eric Meyer, co-owner and publisher of the paper founded more than 150 years ago in the small city of Marion, reportedly said four Marion police officers and three sheriff’s deputies seized personal cell phones, computers, and other materials at his home and Marion County Record office, including some unrelated equipment needed to publish.

“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” Meyer said. “But we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today.”

Reporter Deb Gruver wrote in a post on Facebook she had filed a report with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that accused Marion, Kansas Police Chief Gideon Cody of re-injuring a previously dislocated finger after he allegedly “forcibly yanked” her cell phone from her hand. (Read more from “First Amendment Concerns Raised After Police Seize Materials From Small-Town Kansas Newspaper Office and Staff Homes During Raid” HERE)

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