The Marion County Record, a Kansas newspaper that local police raided on August 11, has reportedly received numerous year-long subscriptions, according to a video from inside its office.
This comes after the newspaper filed a federal lawsuit against the community’s local police chief, Gideon Cody, for allegedly grabbing a reporter’s cellphone from her during a raid he led on the newsroom, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.
KSHB Senior Investigative Reporter Jessica McMaster shared the clip Wednesday, writing, “Someone called to buy a year-long subscription to Marion County Record. This has happened a lot since the raid. But, the special request this person made is a first!”
WATCH: Someone called to buy a year-long subscription to Marion County Record. This has happened a lot since the raid. But, the special request this person made is a first! You 💯 percent want to watch. 👇 pic.twitter.com/H8a8wF5cPs
— Jessica McMaster (@JessMcMasterKC) August 31, 2023
The person on the phone apparently wants her year-long subscription to be delivered to the police department.
According to the Mail article, Cody alleged that a warrant was granted for the initial raid because reporter Deb Gruver impersonated another individual or lied about her intentions to obtain driving records belonging to a local liquor store owner.
“Only sworn [in] in May, Cody is facing allegations he violated the woman’s constitutional rights by seizing her phone – a move the paper’s publisher says was motivated by the reporter’s investigating into his background with a different police department,” the outlet said, adding it was believed the allegations regarding identity theft were used as an excuse for the raid.
Video footage shows the initial raid at the newspaper’s office:
The Record was reportedly investigating sexual misconduct allegations against the chief, Breitbart News reported August 14:
Last week, First Amendment rights advocates were alarmed upon learning that the Marion, Kansas, police department had raided the local newspaper’s offices, confiscating computers, cell phones, hard drives, and a whole host of materials. Officers also seized materials from the home of journalist Eric Meyer, publisher and co-owner of the newspaper.
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In the months leading up to the raid, the newspaper had been running a background check on the incoming Police Chief Gideon Cody. After publishing a story about his candidacy for police chief in the 2,000-resident town, the Marion County Record reportedly received a flood of tips about Cody’s tenure before retiring from the Kansas City Police Department.
A second raid was later performed at the residence of the publisher’s elderly mother, who was 98 years old at the time, according to the Mail, and she reportedly died the day after the incident.
Video footage shows the woman, identified as Joan Meyer, confronting the officers while they were inside her home, calling the police chief an “asshole.”
During the initial raid at the office, law enforcement officers seized computers, personal cell phones, and a router. Those items were released this week “after the county prosecutor concluded there was not enough evidence to justify the action,” the Mail report said.
