Joan Meyer, Co-Owner of Marion County Record, Passes Away After Police Raid on Newspaper Office and Home

On Saturday, Joan Meyer, co-owner of the Marion County Record, a small Kansas newspaper, passed away at her home. The day prior, police had raided both her home and the newspaper’s office, seizing computers, phones, and other electronic devices.

The Marion County Record reported that police had seized computers, phones, and the file server from the newspaper’s office, as well as the personal cellphones of staff members. They also took Meyer’s computer and a router used by an Alexa smart speaker during the raid at her home.

The raid has been deemed a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of a free press by several press freedom watchdogs. Additionally, one Record reporter reported that her finger was injured when Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody wrested her cellphone out of her hand.

The cause of Joan Meyer’s death is currently unknown, but her passing has been met with shock and sadness by those who knew her. The Marion County Record has requested an investigation into the police raid and its potential connection to her death.