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2023-08-13 -Land of the Free
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Kansas police raid newspaper's office, publisher's home to seize records; reporter injured
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| Alternate headline: Local newspaper raided as part of nasty divorce shenanigans. |
[FoxNews] The newspaper's 98-year-old co-owner died a day after the search despite being 'otherwise in good health for her age'
Kansas police raided a local newspaper's newsroom and its publisher's home on Friday and seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials in what critics are calling a violation of the Freedom of the Press.
Marion Police removed the Marion County Record's computer file server, other computers, personal cell phones and other equipment, the outlet reported. Officers injured a reporter and the newspaper's nearly 100-year-old co-owner died a day after the search.
A search warrant signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar claimed probable cause over alleged violations related to identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers, according to the Kansas Reflector.
Police were given approval to search for devices used to access the Kansas Department of Revenue's records website, as well as documents and records pertaining to restaurant owner Kari Newell, who accused the Record of illegally obtaining information about her during a city council meeting on Monday. The newspaper has denied Newell's allegations.
The federal Privacy Protection Act prohibits law enforcement from most searches of journalists and newsrooms and usually requires police to issue subpoenas rather than search warrants. But the police department said in a Facebook post that the law does not apply to instances when journalists are suspected of criminal wrongdoing.
"I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated," Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody told USA Today. "I appreciate all the assistance from all the State and Local investigators along with the entire judicial process thus far."
Cody, according to the Record, reinjured a reporter's fingers that had previously been dislocated when he grabbed her cell phone out of her hand.
"Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, and basic human decency. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves," Freedom of the Press Foundation director of advocacy Seth Stern said in a statement.
The Record's co-owner and publisher Eric Meyer said on the newspaper's website that a source contacted the outlet and a member of the city council with information showing Newell had been convicted of drunk driving and continued to drive without a valid driver's license, and that law enforcement had ignored what the source said was Newell's repeated violation of driving laws.
Meyer consulted an attorney before telling Cody and Marion County Sheriff Jeff Soyez about the information offered by the source. Police then launched an investigation and alerted Newell.
Newell wrote Friday under a changed name on her personal Facebook account that she "foolishly" received a DUI in 2008 and "knowingly operated a vehicle without a license out of necessity," the Reflector reported.
"Journalists have become the dirty politicians of today, twisting narrative for bias agendas, full of muddied half-truths," Newell wrote. "We rarely get facts that aren't baited with misleading insinuations."
According to Meyer, the information was leaked to the Record as part of a legal dispute between Newell and her estranged husband amid the couple's divorce proceedings.
"We thought we were being set up," Meyer told the Reflector.
The Record published a story Thursday denying Newell's accusations at the city council meeting that the newspaper had illegally gained possession of and shared sensitive material. The newspaper also outlined what actions it had taken in reporting on the information.
Other local newspapers are helping the Record, so it can continue to publish and press associations are prepared to support the newspaper.
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Posted by Skidmark 2023-08-13 09:38||
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Posted by NN2N1 2023-08-13 13:00||
2023-08-13 13:00||
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Posted by NN2N1 2023-08-13 13:07||
2023-08-13 13:07||
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01:45 Besoeker
01:30 SteveS
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