Small town Kansas Gestapo raids newspaper offices, and reporters homes.

[MtnMan]

The total cop force (5 cops) had to borrow deputies but managed to raid a newspaper and reporter's homes, seizing computers and phones.

A 98-year-old Kansas newspaper owner died after police raided her home over a story tip about a well-connected person

A police raid on a Kansas newspaper office raises alarms about press freedom and community trust.

www.insider.com

This is fucking bullshit, and the judge that signed the search warrants should be disbarred.

 

[A///]

useless move. most modern publications use a saas for their writing and saving to the cloud to avoid data loss. if these cops try to connect these ocmputers to the internet the account will be kicked offline and asked to enter a password due to the ip change. and phones would be using pw protected messaging apps or hidden on the phone. good luck small town cock fucks trying to get through that.

Bunch of dumb fucks thinking they're being badasses but clueless about how modern tech and security works. people will be paying for the settlement. tax payer money not so well spent.

 

[Thump553]

useless move. most modern publications use a saas for their writing and saving to the cloud to avoid data loss. if these cops try to connect these ocmputers to the internet the account will be kicked offline and asked to enter a password due to the ip change. and phones would be using pw protected messaging apps or hidden on the phone. good luck small town cock fucks trying to get through that.

Bunch of dumb fucks thinking they're being badasses but clueless about how modern tech and security works. people will be paying for the settlement. tax payer money not so well spent.

Even if this is so, the fact that a judge signed such a search warrant and the fact that (the newspaper claims) the police seized property that is outside of the scope of the search warrant are, from the limited information in the linked article, inexcusable. I'm guessing this is a small local paper and I'm guessing they don't have the funds to either maintain an all out defense nor to attempt to find the police liable for their misconduct.

 

[A///]

Even if this is so, the fact that a judge signed such a search warrant and the fact that (the newspaper claims) the police seized property that is outside of the scope of the search warrant are, from the limited information in the linked article, inexcusable. I'm guessing this is a small local paper and I'm guessing they don't have the funds to either maintain an all out defense nor to attempt to find the police liable for their misconduct.

A judge can sign whatever they want. The scope of the warrant not being questioned or the fallout not being thought of places blame on all parties. this pd and this judge will come under lawsuit or federal oversight soon in the coming weeks and it ain't gonna be pretty. this isn't the movies where these actions fly.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah that's fucked up and good job dipshits this should Streisand Effect them. Unfortunately I doubt much meaningful happens here. And this seems to be that small drunk rural town bullshit.

The small Kansas town I grew up in had a few notable behaviors surrounding police. Like how half the town got angry because they perceived it was unfair that police stopped the at the time current sheriff while he was driving drunk, as though it was some politicized move. And many defending the guy thought "they knew he drives drunk" like that made it unfair for them to pull him over for it. But then half the town were alcoholics, with most getting away with years if not decades of drunk driving by paying for Diversions when they'd get caught blatantly doing something stupid while drunk driving.

useless move. most modern publications use a saas for their writing and saving to the cloud to avoid data loss. if these cops try to connect these ocmputers to the internet the account will be kicked offline and asked to enter a password due to the ip change. and phones would be using pw protected messaging apps or hidden on the phone. good luck small town cock fucks trying to get through that.

Bunch of dumb fucks thinking they're being badasses but clueless about how modern tech and security works. people will be paying for the settlement. tax payer money not so well spent.

I wouldn't assume a small town newspaper is operating with modern methods. Plus sounds like a fair amount of this is just on Facebook and not via sophisticated systems.

 

[Perknose]

The total cop force (5 cops) had to borrow deputies but managed to raid a newspaper and reporter's homes, seizing computers and phones.

A 98-year-old Kansas newspaper owner died after police raided her home over a story tip about a well-connected person

A police raid on a Kansas newspaper office raises alarms about press freedom and community trust.

www.insider.com

This is fucking bullshit, and the judge that signed the search warrants should be disbarred.

Really putting the "SMALL" in small government. Bunch of petty, ethics free mutual ass coverers. I can only hope there are significant consequences.

 

[A///]

I wouldn't assume a small town newspaper is operating with modern methods. Plus sounds like a fair amount of this is just on Facebook and not via sophisticated systems.

small towns never heard of office 365 that's been out about a decade now? price of standalone licenses are very expensive.

 

[Vic]

Marion county, KS voted 73% for Trump. This is free speech in MAGA country.

 

[MtnMan]

They most likely layout each edition on a computer, probably an Apple, and transmit that layout to the printers, for the issue to be printed, This has silenced them, at least temporary.

You can't have a functioning democracy without the press. The strength of a democracy rests with the people, and without the press to keep us informed, democracy cannot function.

 

[MtnMan]

Marion county, KS voted 73% for Trump. This is free speech in MAGA country.

If these wannabe MAGA Gestapo goons do not suffer quick and severe consequences, we can expect more such instances.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Always better to go to a real news source than a tabloid.


A little confusing as to who did what, when, or not.

"The Marion County Police Department, in a statement posted Saturday on the department’s Facebook page, acknowledged that the federal Privacy Protection Act protects journalists from searches. However, the department argued, the law doesn’t apply when journalists are suspected of criminal activity.


“The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served,” the statement said.


The alleged victim is Kari Newell, who owns a restaurant in Marion and was trying to obtain a liquor license.


Newell declined to answer questions for this story but pointed to a statement she issued Saturday on her personal Facebook page. She said someone had used a piece of mail addressed to her from the Kansas Department of Revenue to obtain her driver’s license number and date of birth. That information was then used to find her driver’s license history through KDOR’s website.


Eric Meyer, the newspaper publisher, said a confidential source had provided documentation that Newell had been convicted of drunken driving in 2008 and had driven without a license. A reporter used the KDOR website to verify that the information was accurate, but the newspaper decided not to publish a story about the information.


Instead, Eric Meyer said, he notified local police of the situation. Marion County police, in coordination with state authorities, launched an investigation and alerted Newell. They obtained a search warrant, signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, for evidence of identity theft and criminal use of a computer."


But ....


"Law enforcement raided the Marion County Record on Friday, seizing computers and reporters’ personal cellphones as part of an investigation into alleged identity theft of a restaurant operator who feuded with the newspaper. Officers also raided the home of publisher Eric Meyer, who lived with his 98-year-old mother, Joan.


The newspaper reported Saturday that Joan Meyer, “stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief,” had collapsed and died."

Police defend raid on Kansas newspaper amid backlash over ‘brazen violation of press freedom’

TOPEKA — Marion County police on Saturday defended their unprecedented raid on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home by pointing to a loophole in federal law that protects journalists from searches and seizures. Law enforcement raided the Marion County Record on Friday, seizing computers...

www2.ljworld.com

So, maybe a wrongful death claim too?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Further, non-tabloid source:

"The Kansas Reflector reports the raid followed news stories about a restaurant owner who kicked reporters out of a meeting last week with U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, and revelations about the restaurant owner’s lack of a driver’s license and conviction for drunken driving.

According to the Reflector, the search warrant signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. The law requires law enforcement to subpoena materials instead. Viar didn’t respond to a request from the Reflector to comment.

Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said the police raid is unprecedented in Kansas.

“An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know,” Bradbury said. “This cannot be allowed to stand.”

The Marion newspaper reported last week that Marion restaurant owner Kari Newell had kicked newspaper staff out of a public forum with LaTurner, whose staff was apologetic. Newell responded to Meyer’s reporting with hostile comments on her personal Facebook page.

A confidential source contacted the newspaper, Eric Meyer said, and provided evidence that Newell had been convicted of drunken driving and continued to use her vehicle without a driver’s license. The criminal record could jeopardize her efforts to obtain a liquor license for her catering business.

A reporter with the Marion Record used a state website to verify the information provided by the source. But Meyer suspected the source was relaying information from Newell’s husband, who had filed for divorce. Meyer decided not to publish a story about the information, and he alerted police to the situation."

Police Raid Marion Newspaper Office

KSAL is your number one source for salina local news, weather, sports, auctions.

www.ksal.com

 

[UNCjigga]

Sounds exactly like the small government conservatives keep voting for. Small enough to drown you in your small town bathtub...did I get that right?

 

[UNCjigga]

More small government shenanigans:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/us/mississippi-white-officers-torture-black-men-federal-charge/index.html

 

[gothuevos]

Sounds exactly like the small government conservatives keep voting for. Small enough to drown you in your small town bathtub...did I get that right?

Try that in a small town

It might work!

 

[outriding]

Gotta love the SL review of it

 

[MrSquished]

More proof that we are running out of time. The Republicans are getting more and more evil, and not better at all. They are the enemy of good. It's time to draw the battle lines.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^^ Will you just Hush?

 

[BoomerD]

^^^ Will you just Hush?

I can't stand Reba...terrible actress, mediocre (at best) country singer...and a ginger to boot.

As for the actual story...I'll be surprised if the raid and seizures are allowed to stand, but I seriously doubt the newspaper and staff will get back EVERYTHING that was taken. I'm sure quite a few things that pointed fingers at dirty politicians, corrupt citizens, or just "friends" will somehow disappear. "Oh...nope, we never saw any of that. You must be mistaken."

 

[trenchfoot]

From a broader point of view, when the party of Trump has to deal with so much acts of malfeasance on their part being reported by the free press that they're not able to control the narrative over, their only alternative is to muzzle and deny the press' free speech rights by claiming, in true projective fashion, their own free speech rights (to libelously lie in unrestrained fashion) are being violated by this nebulously vague "establishment" or the "commie socialist liberals" that to their chagrin and dismay regularly points out the inconvenient truths of their unconstitutional acts and their assaults on democracy.

 

[Vic]

So to recap, a Trump supporting Congressperson, at the behest of a local Trump supporting business elite, got the local Trump supporting police dept to illegally and unconstitutionally raid a local newspaper in order to silence that newspaper from potentially printing about said Trump supporting business elite's possible criminal activities.

Pardon me while I bask in the right-wingers' purported love of the 1a and free speech.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Well will you fancy that!!!!



MARION, Kansas (AP) — The prosecutor in Marion County, Kansas, said Wednesday that police should return all seized material to a weekly newspaper that was raided by officers in a case that has drawn national scrutiny of press freedom.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”

“As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.

Kansas prosecutor says police should return computers and cellphones seized in raid on newspaper

A Kansas prosecutor says a police raid on a small weekly newspaper wasn’t supported by evidence. The newspaper's staff scrambled to print the new edition Wednesday without their cellphones and computers seized in the raid.

apnews.com

 

[UNCjigga]

Queue the civil/federal lawsuits.

 

[BoomerD]

Well will you fancy that!!!!



MARION, Kansas (AP) — The prosecutor in Marion County, Kansas, said Wednesday that police should return all seized material to a weekly newspaper that was raided by officers in a case that has drawn national scrutiny of press freedom.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”

“As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.

Kansas prosecutor says police should return computers and cellphones seized in raid on newspaper

A Kansas prosecutor says a police raid on a small weekly newspaper wasn’t supported by evidence. The newspaper's staff scrambled to print the new edition Wednesday without their cellphones and computers seized in the raid.

apnews.com

In other words..."we already found what we were looking for and destroyed it. They can have their stuff back."

 

[brycejones]

And the DA in Marion county has withdrawn the warrant for insufficient evidence.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278300178.html