Kansas newspaper that was raided by police is vindicated after county agrees to pay $3M US

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LISTEN | Full interview with Marion County File writer Eric Meyer: As It Occurs 7:01 Kansas newspaper raided by police vindicated after county agrees to pay $3M

Eric Meyer says he and his newspaper colleagues have confirmed which you could stand as much as a bully and win.

Meyer is the editor and writer of the Marion County File, a newspaper in rural Kansas that had its workplaces raided by native police and county sheriff’s officers in 2023, sparking outcry about press freedom.

Now, in a court-approved settlement, Marion County pays greater than $3 million US for its position within the raid, and the sheriff’s workplace has issued an apology.

“In the event you're bullied by the bullies, and also you give them your lunch cash day one, they need your hat the subsequent day, your shoe the day after that, your bike the day after that,” Meyer informed As It Occurs host Nil Köksal.

“Sooner or later it's important to rise up and say no.”

Writer’s mom died after her house was raided Police burst into the File’s workplaces in August of 2023, rifled by means of reporters' desks and seized cellphones and computer systems.

Officers additionally raided the house of Eric Meyer’s 98-year-old mom, Joan Meyer, who he lived with on the time and who was the paper’s co-owner.

She died of sudden cardiac arrest the very subsequent day, and Meyer believes the stress of the raid was a contributing issue.

“She was very disconsolate about this,” Meyer mentioned. “She would not eat, sleep, or do something.”

Police physique digital camera footage of the raid reveals the elder Meyer wanting visibly shaken as she stands in her nightgown together with her walker, shouting at officers to get out of her home.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Framed photo of a woman with curly gray hair, laid outdoors on a wooden box, surrounded by flowers. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/10f43fdc-f051-41ae-958d-5c7c9508f6bf,1762972216087/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4935%2C3291%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/10f43fdc-f051-41ae-958d-5c7c9508f6bf,1762972216087/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4935%2C3291%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/10f43fdc-f051-41ae-958d-5c7c9508f6bf,1762972216087/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4935%2C3291%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/10f43fdc-f051-41ae-958d-5c7c9508f6bf,1762972216087/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4935%2C3291%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4995442114858706" data-cy="image-img"/> A tribute to the late Marion County File co-owner Joan Meyer sits outdoors the newspaper's workplace on Aug. 14, 2023, two days after she died, and someday after police raided the house she shared together with her son. (John Hanna/The Related Press) In line with search warrants, police have been searching for proof the newspaper had illegally obtained a replica of an area restaurateur's driving report whereas reporting on her request for a metropolis liquor license.

Officers additionally raided the house of a then-city council member — who Meyer says was a recognized opponent of the mayor — accusing her of illegally circulating the driving report by sending a cellphone screenshot to the town supervisor.

Meyer says the newspaper did nothing unlawful.

He says they obtained an unsolicited tip that the restaurateur had been driving illegally after being busted for driving underneath the affect, then verified that data utilizing publicly obtainable data.

The File finally determined to not publish the knowledge, deciding it was not within the public curiosity.

“However we did inform the police we had this data, and that there was an allegation that the police have been ignoring her driving illegally and have been properly conscious of it,” Meyer mentioned.

“We informed them we bought it from a supply and we informed them, ‘In order for you any additional data, simply ask us.’ They usually did not, they determined to raid our workplace as an alternative.”

<img loading="lazy" alt="A gray-haired man holds open a newspaper with the front-page headline ""Seized ... but not silenced" " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/2085e35c-d757-470f-ae8a-04220fc2a8d8,1762972125908/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4745%2C3164%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/2085e35c-d757-470f-ae8a-04220fc2a8d8,1762972125908/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4745%2C3164%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/2085e35c-d757-470f-ae8a-04220fc2a8d8,1762972125908/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4745%2C3164%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/2085e35c-d757-470f-ae8a-04220fc2a8d8,1762972125908/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4745%2C3164%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4996839443742098" data-cy="image-img"/> Marion County File editor and writer Eric Meyer says the newspaper did nothing incorrect and can stand as much as bullies. (John Hanna/The Related Press) The raid additionally got here after the paper had revealed a narrative digging into the background of then-police chief Gideon Cody.

Cody, who vehemently defended the raid on the time, has since resigned and is going through felony cost of interfering with a judicial course of for allegedly instructing the restaurant proprietor to delete texts between them.

Two particular prosecutors who reviewed the raid and its aftermath mentioned almost a 12 months later that the File, its employees and the previous metropolis council member had dedicated no crimes, the warrants signed by a choose contained inaccurate data from an "insufficient investigation,” and that the searches weren't legally justified.

Required apology Underneath the court-approved settlement between the newspaper and the county, the property of Meyer’s mom will obtain $1 million US; Meyer, two former File reporters and the paper’s enterprise supervisor will cut up $1.1 million US; and Ruth Herbel, the previous metropolis council member, will obtain $650,000 US.

"It is form of ironic,” Meyer mentioned. “I feel one of many issues they have been making an attempt to do was put us out of enterprise, and there is sufficient cash in there for a small operation to fairly properly assure that we are able to climate virtually something for, you understand, fairly a couple of years.”

The settlement additionally required the sheriff’s workplace to challenge an apology.

The sheriff's workplace mentioned it needed "to precise honest regrets" over the searches. It mentioned that the raids wouldn't have occurred if "established regulation had been reviewed and utilized previous to the execution of the warrants."

Different claims in opposition to the town and its police division are nonetheless in litigation.

Meyer says what occurred in Marion County is a part of a nationwide development within the U.S. of individuals in energy bullying journalists merely for doing their jobs.

“Something that you simply do, when you write something about them that is not precisely what they wish to have mentioned, you’re evil, you’re faux information,” he mentioned. “It is one thing now we have to battle."