A small police department in central Kansas has come under fire for raiding the office and home of a local newspaper publisher and seizing his computers, phones and other devices.
The raid, which took place on Friday, August 11, 2023, was based on a search warrant that listed a restaurant owner, Kari Newell, as the victim of alleged crimes by the newspaper. Newell had accused the newspaper of using illegal means to get information on her DUI conviction and driving violations.
The newspaper, the Marion County Record, said it received that information unsolicited and verified it through public records. It also said it was investigating the police chief’s background and why he left his previous job.
The police chief, Clinton Jeffrey, defended the raid as justified by an exception to the federal law that requires a subpoena to search a newsroom. He said the newspaper had committed identity theft and computer fraud by accessing Newell’s personal information.
The raid was criticized by press freedom watchdogs as a violation of the First Amendment and an attempt to intimidate the newspaper.
“It was a Gestapo tactic. It was an attempt to intimidate us,” Eric Meyer, the publisher and owner of the newspaper, said in an interview with CBS News.
“We’re not above the law. We’re not below the law. We’re just like everybody else,” Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Kirk Thompson said in a statement. He said his agency was assisting the local police with the investigation.
“The police have no business rummaging through newsrooms in this country,” Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement. He said his organization was providing legal assistance to Meyer.
“This is an outrageous abuse of power and a clear violation of the First Amendment,” Nora Benavidez, director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, said in a statement. She said her organization was monitoring the situation closely.
Meyer said he was not deterred by the raid and would continue to report on issues of public interest.
“We’re not going to be intimidated by this. We’re going to keep doing our job,” Meyer said in an editorial published on Saturday.
Relevant articles:
– Police questioned over legality of Kansas newspaper raid in which computers, phones seized, Associated Press, August 13, 2023
– Publisher of small Kansas newspaper calls police raid “Gestapo tactic”, CBS News, August 14, 2023
– A central Kansas police force comes under constitutional criticism after raiding a newspaper, WITN, August 14, 2023
– After police raid at Kansas newspaper, KBI director says media is not ‘above the law’, by MSN News, published on August 14, 2023