Police Force Criticized For Raiding Newspaper

MARION, Kan. (AP) — A small central Kansas police department is facing a torrent of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner. Marion County Record Publisher and Editor Eric Meyer said police raided the newspaper’s office on Friday, seizing the newspaper’s computers, phones and file server and the personal cellphones of staff, based on a search warrant investigating alleged identity theft. Police simultaneously raided Meyer’s home, seizing computers, his cellphone and the home’s internet router. Meyer blames the stress of the home raid for the Saturday death of his 98-year-old mother. Press freedom watchdogs condemned the raids.