Anti-Press Hatred Is Alive and Well in Kansas

[phkrause]

The assault on the Marion County Record is another reminder that Trumpism is a threat to press freedom.

https://theintercept.com/2023/08/15/marion-county-record-raid/?

[phkrause]

What the Kansas Newsroom Raid Reveals About Widespread Spying on the Press

A police raid on a small city’s only newspaper was correctly met with outrage. But the threat to freedom of the press goes far deeper.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-the-kansas-newsroom-raid-reveals-about-spying-on-the-press?

[phkrause]

One year after Marion raid, Kansas officials still don’t care about constitutional freedoms

Exactly one year ago, on Aug. 11, 2023, law enforcement officials raided the Marion County Record newspaper, shredding the First Amendment over a small-town personality conflict.

https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/11/one-year-after-marion-raid-kansas-officials-still-dont-care-about-constitutional-freedoms/?

[bonnie1962]

33 minutes ago, phkrause said:

One year after Marion raid, Kansas officials still don’t care about constitutional freedoms

Exactly one year ago, on Aug. 11, 2023, law enforcement officials raided the Marion County Record newspaper, shredding the First Amendment over a small-town personality conflict.

https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/11/one-year-after-marion-raid-kansas-officials-still-dont-care-about-constitutional-freedoms/?

Apparently they care enough to .....

Former police chief faces a felony charge in the raid of a Kansas newspaper

AUGUST 13, 202412:00 PM ET

By 

The Associated Press

 

This image from Marion, Kan., Police Department body camera video provided by the McDonald Tinker law firm shows former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody during his department's raid of the Marion County Record newspaper on Aug. 11, 2023, in Marion, Kan.

McDonald Tinker/via AP

TOPEKA, Kan. — A former central Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice and is accused of persuading a potential witness for an investigation into his conduct of withholding information from authorities.

The single charge against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody alleges that he knowingly or intentionally influenced the witness to withhold information on the day of the raid of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher or sometime within the following six days. The charge was filed Monday in state district court in Marion County and is not more specific about Cody's alleged conduct.

 

However, a report from two special prosecutors last week referenced text messages between Cody and the business owner after the raid. The business owner has said that Cody asked her to delete text messages between them, fearing people could get the wrong idea about their relationship, which she said was professional and platonic.

Cody justified the raid by saying he had evidence the newspaper, Publisher Eric Meyer and one of its reporters, Phyllis Zorn, had committed identity theft or other computer crimes in verifying the authenticity of a copy of the business owner's state driving record provided to the newspaper by an acquaintance. The business owner was seeking Marion City Council approval for a liquor license and the record showed that she potentially had driven without a valid license for years. However, she later had her license reinstated.

 

The prosecutors' report concluded that no crime was committed by Meyer, Zorn or the newspaper and that Cody reached an erroneous conclusion about their conduct because of a poor investigation. The charge was filed by one of the special prosecutors, Barry Wilkerson, the top prosecutor in Riley County in northeastern Kansas.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment at a possible cellphone number for Cody, and it was not immediately returned Tuesday. Attorneys representing Cody in a federal lawsuit over the raid are not representing him in the criminal case and did not immediately know whi was representing him.