The police chief of Marion, Kansas, has been suspended after he ordered raids on the office of a small, local newspaper and the home of its publisher.
Mayor David Mayfield suspended Chief Gideon Cody indefinitely on Thursday, according to multiple reports. Officials have not publicly provided a reason for the suspension but it is widely believed to be related to the tremendous media pressure that followed the searches.
The first edition of the Marion County Record since its newsroom in central Kansas was raided by police. (Katie Moore/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Media outlets that have condemned the raids include the New York Times and the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post.
Chief Cody executed a search warrant in August on the Marion County Record, which is family owned and has a circulation of about 4,000. In addition, a search was authorized for the home of its publisher, Eric Meyer. The searches were reportedly related to an investigation into how the newspaper obtained a document about a local restaurant owner.
This screen grab of security camera footage provided by Eric Meyer shows his mother, Joan Meyer, ordering police officers to get out of her house as they searched it on August 11, 2023, in Marion, Kansas. (Eric Meyer via AP)
The newspaper’s possession of the document may have constituted identity theft and computer crimes, according to reports.
Meyer claimed the paper did nothing wrong, saying the document had been obtained from a confidential source. He has stated he believes the raid was actually retaliation for the paper’s investigation of Cody’s previous police work before being hired in Marion.
The offices of the Marion County Record await the arrival of copies of its latest weekly edition on August 16, 2023, in Marion, Kansas. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Mayor Mayfield was recently quoted in the newspaper saying the raids make it look “like we’re a bunch of hicks now.”
The day after the raids, the newspaper’s co-owner, Joan Meyer, 98, died, with her son alleging it was related in part to the shock caused by the raid on their home.
The raids have now become a rallying cry for numerous media outlets, who claim the searches constitute a violation of the First Amendment.
Eric Meyer, publisher of the Marion, Kansas, County Record, speaks to reporters about the aftermath of the raid on his home and his newspaper’s offices by police on August 14, 2023, in Marion, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
The left-wing NPR reported that the raids appear to be a violation of federal law, citing the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which broadly prohibits law enforcement officials from searching for or seizing information from reporters.
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