A police raid on a small town Kansas newspaper is blowing up into a national story.   The offices of the Marion County Record as well as the home of its Owner and Publisher Eric Meyer were raided by police this past Friday.   Computers, servers and even the personal phones of employees were confiscated in the raid.  Local editor of the Montgomery County Chronicle, Andy Taylor says the newspaper was just trying to do its job.

 

The situation stems from a complaint by the owner of a local restaurant saying the newspaper had invaded her privacy and illegally obtained damaging information about her.  Taylor says there is a legal process in place to obtain a warrant on a newspaper and the raid was a first amendment violation.

 

Taylor, who also served as a past president of the Kansas Press Association says the organization is very concerned about the possible implications of the raid.

 

Meyer blames the death of his mother the day after the raid on the stress caused by the raid.  Marion County is located north of Wichita