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Joan Meyers was, as evidenced by the video, livid at the police intrusion into her home under questionable circumstances. As more information comes to light, it is becoming evident that this raid was more of an intimidation and retaliation tactic.
Good for Joan in calling a spade a spade. And in this case, I’d have to agree. As much as I work with law enforcement, in some cases they can be assholes.
In this case, it’s already been noted that the warrants used to search both the newspaper and the homes of Joan Meyer and her son Eric, and the homes of other reporters were essentially bogus given there was no probable cause affidavit filed. Which is a huge violation of their 4th Amendment rights.
As the folks at Soldier of Fortune point out, there’s more to this than supposedly accessing a citizen’s DUI record.
When police raided the Marion County Record, their actions didn’t seem to match their official purpose, Meyer said. Police officers took cell phones, computers, and a file server, and even unplugged an internet router. But they did not confiscate the one document that showed where the newspaper obtained information on the restaurant owner’s DUI.
“So if they really were looking for where this information came from, why did they leave the copy that was given to us sitting on my desk next to my computer?” Meyer said. “Why did they never talk to the person we got information from?”
The raid took place amid the newspaper’s investigation into the chief of police.
That raises some interesting questions. Even as some of the taken items are being returned…
The search warrant against the Record identifies two pages worth of items that law enforcement officers were allowed to take, including computer software and hardware, digital communications, cellular networks, servers, hard drives, items with passwords, utility records, and all documents and records pertaining to Newell.
The warrant specifically targeted ownership of computers capable of being used to “participate in the identity theft of Kari Newell.”
~Snip
Seized items started being returned last week, but as of Monday, the paper was still missing four computers, two hard drives and a router.
W should keep in mind, this was all supposedly about illegally accessing someone’s driving record. Which did not happen. Furthermore, the information that was sent to the paper was then reported to the city council, and again, the story was NEVER written nor published.
So, what was the real motive behind all of this? Eric Meyer believes this is also partly intimidation for investigating Police Chief Cody’s performance record while working for the Kansas City Police department.
As the Marion paper reported, Police Chief Gideon Cody was hired in April. And, due to another hiring for the city that went bad, the Record started investigating. And found some concerning issues.
The newspaper saw a dramatic spike in web traffic for its April 20 story about Cody.
Soon after, a Record reporter started receiving phone calls from officers and sergeants who had worked under Cody in Kansas CityThe first call came from the husband of a police sergeant who reported directly to Cody.
Several sources said Cody was about to be demoted from commander to sergeant — the department doesn’t have lieutenants — because Cody had made belittling, sexist comments to the sergeant, creating a hostile work environment.
The reporter asked to interview her, but her husband said she wouldn’t talk out of concern for her career.
Other people who called would talk, but they wouldn’t do so on the record. The Record interviewed seven of Cody’s former colleagues. Some also had left the department. Others still worked there.
There’s more at the link to read regarding Cody. But the paper ALSO emphasizes that they took all this information to the city council. Yet no or very little action was taken by anyone at the city.
Marion KS police chief: an astonishing list of allegations of illegal and ugly behavior, yet the city hired him & he hasn't been suspended for the illegal raid he led on the Marion County Record. https://t.co/71G5JDz961
— Jill Johnson (@Ducati_5) August 22, 2023
The video above shows a lady understandably livid and upset that cops are coming into her home.
The video shows Joan Meyer shouting at the officers inside the home she shared with her son, Marion County Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer.
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) August 22, 2023
She died the day after the raid. Her son said he believes that the stress contributed to her death. https://t.co/mu2rBnKf9y
There are a lot more questions than answers regarding this mess. The City Council’s unwillingness to address the issue at Monday’s meeting doesn’t help matters either.
If you don’t like a paper’s reporting (or not-reporting in this case), or its investigation into one’s prior employment, engaging in what seems to be intimidation and retaliation which is a violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights is not the answer.
Joan Meyer, who was very community oriented and knew a great deal of the history of Marion County, very possibly would still be alive if it weren’t for this raid.
Feature Photo Credit: Freedom of the Press Constitution via iStock, cropped and modified
LeoAmery says: Perhaps a law is in order in which any search that goes wrong, i.e. a successful lawsuit against the police organization, the judge signing the search warrant gets marched in front of the citizenry sans robe and honorific to explain just why said judge signed the warrant and what steps will be taken to prevent such screwups in future. No fine, no time in the jug, just a public admission of error and some of the same humiliation the justice system in this nation hands out to the unconnected every day.
GWB says: in some cases they can be assholes
Let’s rather say that in all cases they can be a**holes. The question is whether they restrain themselves like an ordinary citizen, or whether they feel like their authority makes them immune to regular mores and expectations. It’s the “I get to do this because I’m above the rules; I’m a cop” attitude.
Which is a huge violation of their 4th Amendment rights.
A violation of the exact words there. Plain and clear and no ambiguity about old-timey English or anything.
Which rates to me as 1) a firing offense, and 2) a hanging offense (because he’s armed authority).
the paper was still missing four computers, two hard drives and a router
They haven’t finished searching/making copies of them, yet.
the story was NEVER written nor published.
Sort of. They DID write a story about the city council meeting where the hullabaloo began. And that seems to have tipped the boulder over the edge.
There are a lot more questions than answers regarding this mess.
Oh, I don’t know. I seem to see all the necessary answers out there right now. Acting on them? Well, that’s a different story. I await the lawsuits about deprivation of civil rights under color of authority and the impeachment of that judge.
(BTW, if the chief was as bad as they claim he was in KC, then this sort of action is exactly what I’d expect now that he’s in a small town and is a BIG fish in a little pond.)
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