<\/p>\n
Pilar Melendez
\nDAILY BEAST<\/p>\n
A 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 \u201cstressed beyond her limits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joan Meyer \u201ccollapsed Saturday afternoon and died at her home,\u201d the\u00a0Marion County Record\u00a0<\/em>reported, noting that she had been \u201cin good health for her age.\u201d The newspaper\u2019s publisher and co-owner, Eric Meyer, told The Daily Beast that the tragic death came after a raid that lasted several hours\u2014and included a visit from the Marion Police Department chief.<\/p>\n \u201cShe made a point last night to say the officers were polite. But it was just annoying to have them there,\u201d he said, adding that his mother was overwhelmed by the ordeal and could not eat after the raid.<\/p>\n The raid at the 98-year-old\u2019s home was one of several the Marion Police Department, which includes five officers and two sheriff\u2019s deputies, conducted on Friday in an ongoing investigation. Police also hit\u00a0Marion County Record<\/em>\u2019s office, Meyer\u2019s home, and the home of one of its reporters\u2014resulting in the seizure of vital reporting materials.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the raids appeared to be simultaneous,\u201d Meyer said, adding that police \u201cwouldn\u2019t complete them until the police chief himself was there. The chief went to the newspaper offices first and officers were just standing at my mother\u2019s house for two, three hours before the chief showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey showed up like the Gestapo.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that during the raid at the\u00a0Marion County Record<\/em>\u2019s office, his business manager was left standing outside for hours.<\/p>\n Meyer revealed in the\u00a0Record\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><\/a>article about the raid that the newspaper, which has been in operation for decades, now does not have the reporting and publishing materials necessary to print its next edition. He told The Daily Beast that among the items seized were three personal cellphones, a backup hard drive, a router, and at least six computers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to publish, somehow,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cWe have resurrected an old Windows XP. But it\u2019s the nitty gritty stuff nobody can help us with. Like where is the ad log? Where is our nameplate?\u201d<\/p>\n The publisher also revealed that the outlet has plans to file a federal lawsuit against the City of Marion and those involved in the search. The raid was first reported by the\u00a0Kansas Reflector.<\/a><\/p>\n Ammon Bundy Wants Arrest to Make Him a Martyr, Hospital Lawyer Claims<\/a><\/p>\n According to Meyer, a retired University of Illinois journalism professor, the raid came after a confidential source leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper about local restaurateur Kari Newell. The source, Meyer said, provided evidence that Newell had been convicted of DUI and was driving without a license\u2014a fact that could spell trouble for her liquor license and catering business.<\/p>\n Meyer, however, said he ultimately decided not to publish the story about Newell after questioning the motivations of the source. Instead, he said, he alerted the police about the information.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought we were being set up,\u201d Meyer said about the confidential information.<\/p>\n The raid immediately sparked outrage online, calling into question why an entire police force was involved in a raid that could have violated federal law and could escalate the ongoing anti-press rhetoric that is dangerous for journalists simply doing their jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe raid was chilling and unprecedented, like a scene out of 1945 Nazi Germany,\u201d Danny Karon, an adjunct professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, told The Daily Beast.<\/p>\n According to the search warrant for the Marion County Record Office obtained by the Reflector, officers allege the raid stems from an investigation into unlawful acts concerning a computer and identity theft.<\/p>\n The two-page warrant also states officers were allowed to seize a host of material, including digital communications, servers, computer software, items containing passwords or access codes, and all correspondence and documents \u201cpertaining to Kari Newell.\u201d During the raid, according to the\u00a0Marion County Record\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>article, police also took Meyer\u2019s mother\u2019s Alexa smart speaker, a move that left the 98-year-old in tears.<\/p>\n Meyer told The Daily Beast that police did not say much on Friday when they were executing the raids, but that he immediately knew it was about Newell because of the undetailed search warrant. He said that since the raids, he and his attorney have filed several requests to see the probable cause affidavit that was used to apply for the search warrant\u2014but have yet to receive a copy of the document.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Reflector<\/a>\u00a0reported the raid also came just after the\u00a0Record<\/em>\u00a0published an article about Newell, who responded by kicking reporters out of a meeting last week with Rep. Jake LaTurner. She also alleged that the newspaper had illegally obtained and circulated sensitive documents, which the outlet responded to in its Thursday article. (Turner and Newell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n Meyer told The Daily Beast that he has spoken to Newell since the raid, who he said admitted to him that she previously had a drunk driving conviction and that she had been driving without a license. He added that she did not apologize about the raid and that she said her lawyers were pursuing criminal charges.<\/p>\n