Reflecting on the Marion County Record police raids

It has now been a week since the Marion County Record police raids, and while the investigation is still ongoing, a lot of information surrounding the issue has come out. Nevertheless, this issue, which has received national attention, has come with some confusion due to the surplus of information that sometimes contradicts itself. I’ve had a couple of people reach out to me personally asking for me to explain it, and thus, I have decided to breakdown the details here. In this article, we’re going to look at the neutral players in this story, the people who were at fault, and the victims, as well as what is most likely going to happen moving forward in this case.

People who are neutral in this story

I’m using the term ‘neutral’ to state that these people were not victims in this story, however, they didn’t necessarily do anything criminal that contributed in any meaningful way to this case, either.

U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner

U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) is someone that many Democrats have targeted in this story simply because he attended a meet and greet hosted by Kari Newell at her restaurant, and also, probably because he’s a Republican. However, that’s all he did. He invited the press to cover the event, however, prior to his arrival, Newell, with the help of Marion police, kicked out Eric Meyer, owner of the Marion County Record, along with his staff who were there to cover the event. After Rep. LaTurner heard about this, he went to the Marion County Record offices and had an interview there.

Kari Newell

This might be a bit controversial, but in the grand scheme of things, at least for right now, Newell (legally) didn’t do anything to contribute to the issues of the Marion County Record, she just happened to be in the crossfires of extreme corruption. Technically, she did break laws as she had a DUI in 2008 and was allegedly driving without a license. She also, clearly, had a grudge against the Marion County Record. However, there is, currently, no evidence to suggest that she was sleeping with anyone on the police force or had so much power that she could get a judge to sign off on the police raids.

If anything, Newell is a woman who has made many bad decisions in her life that ultimately got her involved in a story of one of the biggest police scandals in U.S. history. However, to say she was the one who got law enforcement to do what they did comes off as conspiratorial. Newell was also not concerned about the DUI getting out as that was public information, and she was aware of that. Instead, according to her statement, she was concerned about her identity being stolen including her address, drivers license number, social security number, and date of birth, which she believes was “illegally obtained, illegally shared, illegally held,” including at the Marion County Record who received information on her from an informant.

Newell, in my opinion, is the unfortunate person who made the series of events commence. While I don’t personally believe the newspaper broke any laws obtaining information on her, I do believe that Newell genuinely believes they did. I also think she would have been the perfect scapegoat for anyone wanting to raid the Marion County Record due to her issues with the paper.

People at fault

Literally everyone in the criminal justice system that played a role in this case

From the five Marion police officers and the two Marion County sheriffs that took part in the raids to the judge that signed off on the warrant when it should have been a subpoena, there really isn’t any one in the criminal justice system who didn’t majorly mess up on this case. One person in particular to look at is Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody who has been Chief for less than three months. While coincidences do happen, the fact that these raids occurred where the police took computers, cell phones, and other reporting gear from the journalists when the paper was in the middle of digging into Chief Cody’s history at the Kansas City Police Department as a captain after 24 years is extremely suspicious. Especially since the paper “received multiple tips alleging he’d retired from his previous job to avoid demotion and punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges.” This means he would have something to hide and as Police Chief, he could, potentially, have power to get a judge to sign off on the warrant.

People who are victims

The owners of the Marion County Record and staff

There’s no doubt in my mind that those at the Marion County Record are the victims, including 98-year-old Joan Meyer, co-owner of the newspaper, who collapsed and died the day after the raids. Their livelihoods were unjustly disrupted by the government for no other reason than a woman in the community accusing them of illegally obtaining her personal information without much, if any concrete proof.

What will likely happen

I believe the paper will be able to sue the government and win a significant amount of money. However, I don’t believe they will win much more than this and a spot in history. I think, due to qualified immunity, nothing will happen to the officers involved in this case and they will continue working in the town for as long as the people are willing to put up with them. As for Newell, she has received many threats and, according to her statement, people are even targeting her children. I can’t see her business lasting too much longer in Marion, and she may end up moving elsewhere to start over.