Video shows Kansas newspaper owner Joan Meyer yelling at police as they search her home
- New video show a Kansas newspaper owner in a war of words with police who raided her home just a day before she died mid-sentence
- Police were searching Joan Meyer’s home in an identity theft investigation
- Meyer’s newspaper, the Marion County Record was also raided in what Meyer’s son Eric has called a series of ‘Gestapo’ tactics
The 98-year-old Kansas newspaper owner chided police calling them ‘a*****e’ and asking if their mother loved them as she berated them during a search of her home – a day before she died mid-sentence.
Joan Meyer’s home was raided on August 11 as the Marion County Police Department was executing a search warrant in an identity theft investigation – one that was later withdrawn by the county attorney.
‘Don’t you touch any of that stuff,’ the Marion County Record co-owner told cops in the newly released footage as she moved around her home with a walker. ‘This is my house. You assh**e!’
Joan’s son Eric Meyer has asserted that his mother, a lifelong journalist, died the day after the raid from being ‘traumatized’ by the incident.
At least six officers are seen searching Joan’s home and sorting her belongings as she repeatedly tells them to leave.
‘I don’t want you in my house,’ she says.
New footage of a raid on the home of Joan Meyer shows the spitfire 98-year-old tossing words at police just one day before she died mid-sentence
Meyer’s newspaper was reportedly looking into claims police chief Gideon Cody (right) retired from his previous job to avoid punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges
It has been reported the entire police investigation was connected to a story in which the newspaper was looking into claims police chief Gideon Cody retired from his previous job to avoid punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges.
Police also raided the newspaper’s office and the home of one of its reporters. They took vital publishing equipment, including computers and phones.
In the new video – released by the Marion County Record – the woman at one point rolls her walker right up to an officer and demands he waits outside.
‘Did your mother ever love you,’ Joan asks the cop in the video, which amassed more than 23,000 views in a matter of hours.
‘Get out of my house. You’re trespassing,’ she says to the man.
Two officers attempt to talk the woman down for the first minute of the video released by the newspaper while the four others continue the search.
She even attempts to stop the men and refuses to answer their questions, replying ‘I’m not going to tell you’ when asked how many computers she has.
‘I want to see what they’re doing,’ Joan says as she attempts to make her way around the couch to see what the officers are looking at.
The interaction with police inside her own home was so upsetting that she died the next day while in the middle of a conversation.
She reportedly refused to eat, sleep, or drink after the raid and ultimately died on August 12 from sudden cardiac arrest, a coroner’s report states.
In the new video – released by the Marion County Record – the woman at one point rolls her walker right up to an officer and demands he wait outside
She even attempts to stop the men and refuses to answer their questions, replying ‘I’m not going to tell you’ when asked how many computers she has
Joan’s son Eric Meyer (pictured) has asserted that his mother, a lifelong journalist, died the day after the raid from being ‘traumatized’ by the incident
Officials with the Marion Police Department claimed the raid was carried out because they had concerns about ‘identity theft.’
Many have speculated, however, the raids were due to the Meyers’ investigation of Cody, 54.
He became chief in late April, after leaving the Kansas City Police Department after 24 years on the job amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Marion County Record received an ‘outpouring of calls,’ Eric Meyer said, claiming Cody had retired from his last police post to avoid demotion over sexual misconduct allegations.
Meyer said his newspaper was contacted by Cody’s former colleagues about the claims of sexual misconduct, but that the six-plus anonymous sources ultimately never went on the record and reporters could not obtain Cody’s personnel file.
Kansas City police have refused to reveal whether Cody was accused of sexual misconduct while working at their force.
Meyer said the identity of the sources was on the computer servers, which Cody’s team seized.
‘I may be paranoid that this has anything to do with it, but when people come and seize your computer, you tend to be a little paranoid,’ Meyer told The Handbasket.
Eric Meyer stands outside the Marion County Record’s office, which was also raided
Gideon Cody took over as chief of Marion County Police Department in April. The newspaper was investigating tips that he retired from Kansas City police to avoid an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct
He told The Kansas City Star they had not yet published the story, because they had not completed their investigation.
‘We didn’t publish it because we couldn’t nail it down to the point that we thought it was ready for publication,’ said Meyer.
‘[Cody] didn’t know who our sources were. He does now.’
And Meyer told AP: ‘This is the type of stuff that, you know, Vladimir Putin does, that Third World dictators do.
‘This is Gestapo tactics from World War II,’ Eric said.
Marion County police department stated on Saturday that they were committed to upholding the law, without addressing the substance of the raid.
‘The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police is to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of all members of the public,’ the department wrote on Facebook.
‘This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences, in order to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection, and the rule of law for everyone in the community.
‘The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will nothing less.’
The moment that police using ‘Hitler tactics’ raided the Marion County Record newsroom has been caught on camera – just a day before the paper’s co-owner subsequently died
The raids began after leaked documents about local restaurateur Kari Newell that could have got her liquor license revoked were handed to the newspaper.
Meyer didn’t publish the story about Newell because he questioned the source – and instead he told the cops about the information.
Newell then accused the weekly newspaper of illegally getting her personal data, prompting the search.
She also allegedly was unhappy with the newspaper had reported reporting on how Newell kicked out reporters from an event at her restaurant, Kari’s Restaurant.
Meyer told the Kansas City Star: ‘We sent them a note saying that a source had given us a file that we thought had suspicious origins.
‘We checked it out to verify that it was accurate, but were not planning to do anything with it. Their response was the typical fashion of a bully.
‘Instead of asking a question or getting material, they came with an atomic flyswatter to seize our equipment and apparently tried to put us out of business.’
As anger grew over the raid of the newspaper, the search warrant that authorized a sensational raid on a local newspaper’s headquarters and its co-owner’s home was withdrawn.
All seized items from the Marion County Record were released to the newspaper’s attorney – five days after they were swiped by the police department.
Joel Ensey, Marion County Attorney, ruled earlier this month there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to justify why a search warrant was issued in the first place.
Despite the lack of equipment, the Marion County Record successfully went to print on Wednesday – with the front page reading: ‘Seized…but not silenced.’
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