‘EGREGIOUS ATTACK’

Journalists’ Org Offers $20,000 to Help Kansas Newspaper After Shocking Police Raids

The Society of Professional Journalists held an emergency board meeting on Sunday to approve the legal assistance funds.

The Society of Professional Journalists has offered to help cover up to $20,000 in legal fees for the Kansas newspaper that was raided by law enforcement. The entire Marion County Police Department raided the Marion County Record and the home of its owner and publishers on Friday, seizing laptops and computers that left the outlet paralyzed. Publisher Eric Meyer told The Daily Beast the raids were so overwhelming that they resulted in the death of his 98-year-old mother and newspaper co-owner, Joan. “By all accounts, the raid was an egregious attack on freedom of the press, the First Amendment, and all the liberties we hold dear as journalists in this great country,” SPJ National President Claire Regan said during an emergency board meeting on Sunday to approve legal aid. The search warrant came amid an investigation into materials the newspaper received from an anonymous source about a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. Newell accused the newspaper of invading her privacy and illegally requesting personal information. Meyer, however, said the Marion County Record did not publish the materials they received.

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Pilar MelendezSenior National Reporter

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