'Stressed beyond her limits': co-owner of Kansas newspaper dies after police raid

[Jilly_in_VA]

The co-owner of a small Kansas newspaper whose offices and staff were raided by local police officers conducting a leak investigation has died after the situation left her “stressed beyond her limits”, according to the publication.

Joan Meyer, 98, collapsed on Saturday afternoon and died at her home a day after she tearfully watched officers who showed up at her home with a search warrant cart away her computer as well as an internet router, reported the Marion County Record, which she co-owned. After officers also photographed the bank statements of her son, Record publisher Eric Meyer, and left her house in mess, Meyer had been unable to eat or sleep, her newspaper said.

Meyer was “in good health for her age”, the weekly newspaper asserted. And the headline of its report on her death said the police’s decision to raid the Marion Record’s offices along with the homes of its reporters and publishers was not only illegal – but had also contributed to bringing on the end of Meyer’s life.

Attempts to contact both Marion’s police chief – Gideon Cody – and the judge who authorized his agency to conduct the raids aimed at the Record, Laura Viar, for comment on Meyer’s sudden death were not immediately successful.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/13/marion-county-record-co-owner-joan-meyer-dies-kansas-police-raid

Sne may have been 98, but this raid was blatantly illegal and unconstitutional!

[tableturner]

1. Definitely illegal...fascism marches forward...

[RKP5637]

2. She's lucky they didn't taser her about 10 times because a threat to them. n/t

[Alliepoo]

3. I don't know how to post it here but

Heather Cox Richardson had a most excellent column regarding this topic. It was in my email today. If you can find it, I highly recommend reading it.

[Warpy]

7. Super easy to find

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-12-2023

Marked to read later.

[megapuzzler]

14. I follow her on Facebook and just finished reading her piece on this.

Evidently the police chief was also being investigated by the newspaper regarding sexual misconduct on his part, although the supposed purpose of the illegal raid was for a different unsubstantiated reason. Hope the perpetrators all end up bankrupt from lawsuits or in jail.

[Jilly_in_VA]

23. Which is probably

what prompted the raid. The paper was getting too close to home---HIS home!

[dem4decades]

4. The red states just don't give a fuck about the Constitution.

[johnnyfins]

10. But they love everyone's tax dollars

[Backseat Driver]

5. Very sad that it seemed to hasten her demise. Raids also seemed very much some strong-armed

personal revenge against the owner of this media outlet because of some printed stories with transparency of some fairly petty on-going state/local civil legal problems - wow, talk about illegal and unconstitutional searchs and seizures!

[Arazi]

6. If you can please consider a subscription/donation to the Marion Record

They aren’t going to get their laptops, phones etc back anytime soon from those goons.

Their newsroom is basically stripped.

An online sub is $35/year

[Evolve Dammit]

17. Thanks. Great idea. Do you have a link? We are in a war, sadly

[Arazi]

20. The link is at their website MarionRecord.com

Which is loading verrryyyy slowly atm

Which means they’re getting a lot of traffic - yay!

[Evolve Dammit]

25. encouraging. Such an abuse of power. Hope FBI/DOJ is on it.

[Arazi]

26. Here's the link to get a subscription

https://marionrecord.com/cgi-bin/credit.cgi?gift:MARION+COUNTY+RECORD

[Evolve Dammit]

29. Thanks much!

[housecat]

8. and we can't get tfg to shut the fuck up and stop threatening potential jurers

[housecat]

9. I wonder what "probable cause" got a judge to sign a warrant

[Warpy]

11. I hope shock and grief haven't prevented Eric Meyer from contacting the KCLU

because this has civil liberties lawsuit written all over it.

Maybe when he's thinking a little more clearly, he can persuade an attorney located in slightly bluer Lawrence to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Newell, Magistrate Viar, and the cops. Viar probably won't keep her job long because of this. Obviously she had no clue what the words "matter of public record" mean, especially to reporters, as well as what kicking them out of a political meeting means to a supposedly free press.

[bluescribbler]

12. Time for the DOJ to investigate.

Civil rights violations. Also, the state should be looking into manslaughter charges.

[twodogsbarking]

13. Attorneys have been dispatched to the scene. Traffic is congested.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

15. As much as I'm appreciative of The Guardian's reporting,

I wish all American papers were on top of this as well.

[BOSSHOG]

16. Not a word of this in todays

Topeka-Capitol Journal

[Rebl2]

19. Did see

a local story this morning on KMBC news. Did not mention the death of Joan Meyer though. Hoping more local channels in KCMO pick this story.

[BOSSHOG]

24. The C-J is somewhat slow with its print schedule but it wasn't in their

Digital edition either.

[Martin68]

18. Pigs.

[NCjack]

21. Article in The Guardian

[link:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/13/marion-county-record-co-owner-joan-meyer-dies-kansas-police-raid|]

[treestar]

22. They have no crime to investigate

"Identity theft?" What identity theft. Sounds like misuse of power on the part of the magistrate who signed a warrant for this. They have to have a crime to investigate, not just publishing something someone does not want published.

This is the TFG effect - that we can misuse the levers of power if the have them.

[crickets]

27. I am so angry and sad

for so many reasons I just don't even know what to say. I keep thinking, "give it a day and calm down" but we're on day three and I am not calming down. There was no excuse for this. None.

[NowISeetheLight]

28. Media

I'm not always a fan of the media. I don't believe the public has a need to know"everything". At the same time we are supposed to have Freedom of the Press. This whole incident sounds like something you'd see in Russia or China. I'm surprised these Gestapo tactics didn't include hauling the 98 year old off in handcuffs too.

They need to sue, that's obvious. I also think the DOJ needs to get involved. Something like this can not be allowed to stand. There needs to be criminal prosecutions.