(CN) — Law enforcement officers raided the offices of the Marion County Record in central Kansas on Friday, seizing computers and cellular phones, the Kansas Reflector reported.
Courthouse News Service was unable to independently confirm the raid Friday night. The Reflector is part of the States Newsroom, a nationwide news nonprofit.
Marion County Record owner and publisher Eric Meyer told the Reflector that police and sheriff's deputies took "everything we have," leaving him unsure if the staff could publish a paper next week.
The story indicates the Record may have made the wrong person angry.
"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 warrant cites two Kansas laws, one regarding identity theft and one on unlawful acts concerning computers.
Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, described the raid as unprecedented in the Sunflower State.
“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,” she said, according to the Reflector. “This cannot be allowed to stand.”
The search warrant appears to violate federal law that protects journalists from having reporting materials seized, requiring that authorities subpoena them instead, the nonprofit reported.
Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody did not immediately respond to an email from Courthouse News Service on Friday night.
The Marion County Record is based in Marion, Kansas, about 55 miles northeast of Wichita. Marion is the county seat of Marion County.
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