The police chief who led a highly criticized raid on a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended, the mayor confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Marion Mayor Dave Mayfield said in a text that he suspended Chief Gideon Cody on Thursday.
He declined to discuss the decision further and did not say whether Cody was still being paid.
Voice messages and an email from the AP seeking comment from Cody’s attorney were not immediately returned Saturday.
The Aug. 11 search of the Marion County Record office and the home of its publisher and City Council members has been heavily criticized, placing Marion at the center of a debate over the press protections offered by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Cody’s suspension is a reversal for the mayor, who previously said he would await the results of a state police investigation before taking action.
Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel, whose home was also raided on Aug. 11, hailed Cody’s suspension as “the best thing that could happen to Marion right now” as the central Kansas city of about 1,900 people struggles to move forward under the national spotlight.
The Aug. 11 search of the Marion County Record office has been widely criticized, putting Marion at the center of a debate over press protections offered by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.AP The raid came after a local restaurant owner accused the newspaper of illegally accessing information about him.AP
“We can’t hang our heads until it’s gone, because it’s not going to go away until we do something about it,” Herbel said.
Cody has said little publicly since the raid other than posting a defense of them on the police department’s Facebook page.
In court documents he filed seeking a search warrant, he argued he had probable cause to believe the newspaper and Herbel, whose home was also raided, had violated state laws against identity theft or computer crimes.
The raid came after a local restaurant owner accused the newspaper of illegally accessing information about him.
The newspaper’s publisher Eric Meyer said the alleged identity theft only provided a convenient excuse to search after his reporters had searched for background information on Cody, who was appointed this summer. AP Video of the raid on publisher Eric Meyer’s home shows how distraught his 98-year-old mother was when officers searched their belongings.AP
A spokeswoman for the agency that maintains the records said the newspaper’s online search by a reporter was likely legitimate even though the reporter needed personal information about the restaurant owner provided by a leaker to find his driving record.
The paper’s publisher Eric Meyer said the alleged identity theft only provided a convenient excuse for the search after his reporters dug into the background of Cody, who was appointed this summer.
Legal experts believe the raid on the newspaper violates federal privacy laws or state laws that protect journalists from having to identify sources or hand over unpublished material to law enforcement.
Video of the raid on producer Eric Meyer’s home shows how upset his 98-year-old mother was when officers searched their belongings.
Legal experts believe the raid on the newspaper violates federal privacy laws or state laws that protect journalists from having to identify sources or hand over unpublished material to law enforcement.AP
Meyer said he believes stress contributed to the death of his mother, Joan Meyer, a day later.
Another reporter last month filed a federal lawsuit against the police chief over the raid.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
