“We will be seeking maximum sanctions under the law possible,” Marion County Record’s publisher said after the entire local police department seized reporting materials.
UPDATE - headline changed: Kansas Newspaper Says Its Co-Owner Has Died After Being Traumatized by Police Raid
"A local Kansas newspaper whose offices were raided by an entire police department on Friday says its 98-year-old co-owner has now died after she was left “stressed beyond her limits.”
Joan Meyer “collapsed Saturday afternoon and died at her home,” the Marion County Record reported, noting that she had been “in good health for her age.”
Daily Beast archive link: https://archive.is/c2Byu
Latest information available here: http://marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f206465617468206f66206e657773706170657220636f2d6f776e65723c212d2d2d2d3e
Marion Record archive link: https://archive.is/axP8d
From the Marion Record article:
Stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief after illegal police raids on her home and the Marion County Record newspaper office Friday, 98-year-old newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, otherwise in good health for her age, collapsed Saturday afternoon and died at her home.
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As her home was raided, other officers descended upon the Record office, forcing staff members to stay outside the office for hours during a heat advisory. They were not allowed them to answer the phone or make any calls.
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Marion vice mayor Ruth Herbel’s home also was raided at the same time.
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A Record reporter later requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit necessary for issuance of the search warrant
District court, where such items are supposed to be filed, issued a signed statement saying no affidavit was on file.
County attorney Joel Ensey, whose brother owns the hotel where Newell operates her restaurant, was asked for it but said he would not release it because it was “not a public document.”
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The important thing to remember here is that Kari Newell had been convicted of DUI and was driving without a license. Attempting to cover up this fact is apparently more important than the First Amendment to Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar.