Marion police chief lies, deflects on newspaper raid. He should be fired, immediately | Opinion

By now, you probably know of the Marion Police and Sheriff’s departments’ raid Friday on the local newspaper, the Marion County Record — it’s national news.

And you’ve probably also heard that the 98-year-old co-owner of the paper, Joan Meyer, collapsed and died the day after her home was tossed by the local cops, who seized computers and cell phones — even the router she used for streaming TV and talking to Alexa — and photographed the papers on her desk.

You may be less familiar with the Facebook justifications given by the Marion police chief, Gideon Cody, as to why he mobilized his entire department and called in outside help to roust journalists who’d been investigating a local restaurateur and the chief himself.

So let me unpack this.

The post on the department’s Facebook page starts off with the standard excuse of all public officials who abuse their power when accountability comes knocking.

In the case of Chief Cody, it went like this: “As much as I would like to give everyone details on a criminal investigation I cannot.”

That’s simply not true.

State law allows police to withhold most details of investigations, but only prohibits it in specific cases, none of which are applicable here. If Cody wanted to give more details, a good place to start would be releasing the affidavit he filed to obtain the search warrant.

But Cody goes on:

“I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated. I appreciate all the assistance from all the State and Local investigators along with the entire judicial process thus far.”

I suspect when the rest of the story is available to the public, it will show the system not being vindicated, but being vindictive.

The case centers around the paper’s conduct in the complaint of one Kari Newell, a local restaurateur.

Newell has been seeking city approval for a liquor license for her business, but documents provided to the paper by a confidential source raised questions about her eligibility, due to an unresolved drunk driving conviction from 2008.

According to Record publisher Eric Meyer, who co-owned the paper with his mother until her death Saturday, police are looking into whether a reporter misused the state’s driver’s license verification webpage in an effort to confirm or debunk the documentation provided by the source.

Subpoenas, rather than search warrants

In any case, the newspaper opted not to publish a story on the information and voluntarily disclosed to both Cody and the county sheriff that they had received it from a third-party source.

Cody goes on at some length about why he thinks he didn’t violate the Privacy Protection Act, a federal law which protects news organizations from police raids like the one he conducted.

His words: “Speaking in generalities, the federal Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000aa-2000aa-12, does protect journalists from most searches of newsrooms by federal and state law enforcement officials. It is true that in most cases, it requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search.

“The Act requires criminal investigators to get a subpoena instead of a search warrant when seeking “work product materials” and “documentary materials” from the press, except in circumstances, including: (1) when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”

But, he only quoted part of the statute, making that a lie of omission.

The law continues: “Provided, however, That a government officer or employee may not search for or seize such materials under the provisions of this paragraph if the offense to which the materials relate consists of the receipt, possession, communication, or withholding of such materials or the information contained therein. (but such a search or seizure may be conducted under the provisions of this paragraph if the offense consists of the receipt, possession, or communication of information relating to the national defense, classified information, or restricted data under the provisions of section 793, 794, 797, or 798 of title 18, or section 2274, 2275, or 2277 of this title, or section 783 of title 50, or if the offense involves the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography, the sexual exploitation of children, or the sale or purchase of children under section 2251, 2251A, 2252, or 2252A of title 18); or (2) there is reason to believe that the immediate seizure of such materials is necessary to prevent the death of, or serious bodily injury to, a human being.”

I looked up every exception between the parentheses and they all deal with high-level national security and classified information, child porn and human trafficking — not such trivial matters as Kari Newell’s drivers’ license.

In short, we’re not talking about a terrorist organization or a human trafficking ring here. We’re talking about journalists doing their job, which is to acquire and verify information of public importance.

But the last part of the chief’s self-justification post really takes the cake:

“The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police is to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of all members of the public. This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences, in order to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection, and the rule of law for everyone in the community. The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will (do) nothing less.”

It’s completely fatuous to claim that any part of this was “steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences.”

First off, media influence is obvious here: It was the chief’s decision to target a media outlet he doesn’t like.

And it’s hardly “unbiased” to call Newell “the victim.” The legal term for what she is a complaintant.

If there’s any victim here, it’s the 98-year-old woman who died the day after police, at the direction of Chief Cody, sent her stress level through the ceiling with a ham-handed raid on her home. They trampled all over her “safety, security, and well-being.”

So to summarize:

▪ Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody ordered a certainly unjustified and probably unlawful raid of a newspaper and the private home of its owners.

▪ He then tries to cover up his error in judgment by publicly lying about his authority in releasing information, and misrepresenting the content of a federal statute.

▪ He has turned the city of Marion into a nationwide pariah and brought dishonor on the entire state through his use of what Joan Meyer quite rightly called, on the day before her death, “Hitler tactics.”

The Marion City Council made a grave mistake hiring Gideon Cody as their chief law enforcement officer.

It’s a mistake that the citizens of Marion, Marion County and Kansas shouldn’t have to live with any longer.

The Marion City Council members should call a special meeting at their earliest convenience and fire Cody, before he does any more damage with his dishonest, intimidating and reckless behavior.

Dion Lefler is opinon editor of The Wichita Eagle: 316-268-6527, @DionKansas