A raid on a Kansas newspaper shows a free press is not guaranteed.

Things were going pretty normally for the Marion County Record, based in Marion, Kansas, about an hour north of Wichita. The small weekly publishes every Wednesday. Recent stories include a report on construction work to repair damage to the local dam from heavy rains in 2021; an update by the Kansas Corn Commission on the corn crop (the outlook is not great); and a donation from a family foundation to support $10,000 student scholarships.

There was another story reporters at the Record were investigating, but had not published. It began on Aug. 2, when reporters attended a meeting including restaurateur Kari Newell and U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kansas. Reportedly, Newell asked them to leave and the police chief saw to it that they did; the Record covered that encounter.

After that story ran, a source sent information to the paper, as well as to Marion’s vice mayor, claiming Newell had illegally driven without a license after it was revoked for drunk driving, and police ignored the violation.

Newell was also seeking a catering liquor license from the City Council, and when she appeared on Aug. 7, she accused reporters at the Record of illegally obtaining her driving history, then passing it on to the vice mayor. She claimed they’d violated her privacy rights.

That’s all still within the realm of pretty normal stuff. It’s not atypical for one news story to generate more tips. It’s standard for a source to contact the press as well as elected officials; sources are almost always trying to generate attention. Also not uncommon: that the subject of unflattering press attention tries to cast blame elsewhere.

But what happened next was shocking. On Aug. 11, local police and sheriff’s deputies searched the newspaper office and seized a long list of equipment – cell phones, computers, the server.

“Legal experts contacted by the Record term the raid unheard of in America and reminiscent of what occurs in totalitarian regimes,” according to a story in the Record.

While police were searching the office, they were also searching the home of the vice mayor, as well as that of 98-year-old Joan Meyer and her son, Eric Meyer, co-owners of the newspaper. Joan was waiting for her Meals on Wheels delivery when officers arrived. The next day, she died unexpectedly.

“Stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief after illegal police raids on her home… Joan Meyer, otherwise in good health for her age, collapsed Saturday afternoon and died at her home,” the paper reported.

Amid the anger and heartbreak, the paper reported it plans to file a federal lawsuit against the City of Marion for what appears to have been a baseless search.

Or maybe there was a basis. Besides the privacy kerfuffle, the paper was also investigating the police chief, Gideon Cody, who was hired about two months ago. Eric Meyer told reporter Marisa Kabas that at least a half-dozen sources said Cody retired from his previous job in order to avoid a demotion due to sexual misconduct charges.

The identities of the sources who shared that story with the Record are on a computer that officers seized. “I may be paranoid that this has anything to do with it, but when people come and seize your computer, you tend to be a little paranoid,” Meyer told Kabas.

The irony for Cody is that this wasn’t a story before; now the allegations are national news. So is his fundamentally un-American attack on newsgathering.

It’s unusual for the Weekly to cover Kansas, but this unprecedented event shows that it’s not just laws on paper, but in practice, that protect the freedom of the press. Like me, Meyer is a member of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, a group that troubleshoots challenges that are similar whether you’re in Kansas or California.

The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and 36 news outlets signed a letter to Cody calling for an independent investigation. “Newsroom searches and seizures are among the most intrusive actions law enforcement can take with respect to the free press, and the most potentially suppressive of free speech by the press and the public,” the letter reads.

The chill in Kansas could be felt around the country, or we can all use our First Amendment rights and speak up.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com