Kansas Police Department Slammed for Raid on Local Newspaper After 98-Year-Old Co-Owner Allegedly Died of Stress a Day Later

News outlets and First Amendment proponents condemned a Kansas police force for conducting a raid over the weekend against a local weekly newspaper and the home of its owners.

The Marion Police Department raided the Marion County Record on Friday after authorities received a complaint from a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who accused the paper of violating her privacy while obtaining sensitive information about her. Newell claimed the Record learned she was driving a car without a license despite a DUI conviction, and her rapport with the outlet was further estranged because she had their reporters thrown out of an event she held at her restaurant.

Multiple reports indicate that the Record did not publish the information they received about Newell from a tip, but they did run a story based on public records and a city council meeting where she confirmed the details of her conviction. This led to county sheriff’s deputies obtaining a search warrant based on Newell’s claims that the paper illegally obtained information about her that they were in the process of disseminating.

The raid happened on Friday as police seized computers, servers, and the cellphones of the Record’s staff. They also raided the home of editor and publisher, Eric Meyer, which he shared with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who was co-owner of the Record.

Meyer’s mother passed away on Saturday, and the paper claimed her death was brought about after she was “stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief after illegal police raids on her home” and the Record’s office.

From the story:

She had not been able to eat after police showed up at the door of her home Friday with a search warrant in hand. Neither was she able to sleep Friday night.

She tearfully watched during the raid as police not only carted away her computer and a router used by an Alexa smart speaker but also dug through her son Eric’s personal bank and investments statements to photograph them. Electronic cords were left in a jumbled pile on her floor.

Joan Meyer’s ability to stream TV shows at her home and to get help through her Alexa smart speakers were taken away with the electronics.

Meyer has said that he expects to file a lawsuit over the raid. Meanwhile, media organizations and press freedom advocates came out in force to denounce the raids

Watch above via CNN.