Marion County mayor David Mayfield DEFENDS cops who raided local Kansas newspaper and elderly co-owner Joan Meyer’s home – and blames judge for approving warrant

The mayor of Marion County has defended police who raided a local Kansas newspaper and the home of elderly co-owner Joan Meyer — blaming the judge for approving the search warrant.

Mayor David Mayfield said he “isn’t exactly sure what they did wrong” when police raided the Marion County Record office in Kansas on Aug. 11.

Mayfield claims that if there were any concerns or doubts about the search warrants, the prosecutor or judge should have rejected them beforehand.

It was signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, and the raids were personally led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, sparking a debate about the First Amendment across the country.

The raid, conducted on August 11, was personally led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody (center). He was only sworn in in May and faces charges that he violated a reporter’s constitutional rights by confiscating her phone during the raid — a move the newspaper’s publisher says was prompted by the woman’s investigation into his background at another police station.

Mayor David Mayfield told this The Wichita eagle“I mean, everyone’s looking at Marion like we’re a bunch of dorks now.”

“And the police just did what the judge told them to.”

Questioning the prosecutor who decided to revoke the search warrants five days after they were executed, he added, “Why didn’t he (Ensey) do that in the first place?”

He also said he was “perplexed” that Cody was being criticized.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigations took over the investigation days after the newspaper’s computers and publishing equipment were seized, citing suspicions that the looting had occurred without proper police reasoning.

They found that there was indeed not enough evidence to launch the diatribe against the local newspaper – and withdrew the order.

However, the retroactive withdrawal of the search warrant did not undo the most tragic aspect of the unfolding Kansas story.

A video released by the newspaper two days earlier showed how disturbing the simultaneous raid a few miles away was for publisher Eric Meyer’s mother, 98-year-old Bonnie, who died the next day. Her son said he also plans to sue

Distraught over the police raid on her newspaper, Meyer died “mid-sentence” half a day after the still-shrouded operation

Police seized computers, cell phones and a router during the filmed ordeal, all of which were released on Wednesday after the prosecutor concluded there was not enough evidence to warrant the action.

Newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, died of the grief and stress she felt after the entire Marion police raided her belongings for hours.

She cried, couldn’t eat and died in mid-sentence just twelve hours into the ordeal.

It also emerged during the ordeal that Cody was also under investigation by the paper over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Cody became Chief of the Marion County Police Department in late April, after leaving the Kansas City Police Department over sexual misconduct allegations.

It was Kari Newell, 46, who accused the Marion County Record of obtaining her 2008 DUI information illegally, which would have interfered with her liquor license application, prompting multiple police raids.

Lawyer Rhodes has criticized police chief Cody for initiating the raid on the 98-year-old woman’s home.

He said, ‘Can he spell hypocrisy? This was his statement. His research and his quest. He (Cody) drove to the house to personally search the house of a 98-year-old who had nothing to do with this. A woman who died the next day.’

Cody, 54, claimed in unreleased court documents that the search was conducted after another reporter impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local liquor store owner.

Meyer, who was seen outside the Record Office two weeks ago, claims the paper received a phone call alleging that Cody had retired from his last post to avoid demotion for alleged sexual misconduct

Bundles of copies of this week’s edition are piled on the floor behind the reception desk in the paper’s office

When Cody was attended by reporters, he refused to answer questions and instead said, “Do you realize how angry the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigations) will be at me if I start talking about their case now?”

After the scandal and federal lawsuit, the small newspaper said it was inundated with annual subscriptions.

Cody, 54, claimed in unreleased court documents that the reporter, identified as Deb Gruver, posed as someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local liquor store owner.

Cody, who was sworn in last May, faces allegations that he violated the woman’s constitutional rights by confiscating her phone — a move the paper’s publisher says was prompted by the reporter’s investigation into his background at another police station.

It is believed the identity theft allegations were a convenient excuse for the search — which police have yet to explain, the outlet said.