Kansas local police conducted a raid on the offices of a local newspaper and the homes of its publisher and reporters on Friday. 

Eric Meyer, the publisher and owner of the Marion County Record, believes the raid was prompted by a story published on Wednesday about a local business executive. The police countered, saying the raid was part of an investigation into a possible case of identity theft. 

Mr Meyer narrated to the Kansas Reflector that the city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies conducted the raid. During the raid, computers, cell phones, and reporting materials were seized by the authorities. 

The publisher disclosed in the outlet that the raid and seizure stemmed from a confidential source leaking sensitive documents to the newspaper. 

According to Mr Meyer, the leaked sensitive documents contain evidence that a local business executive, Kari Newell, had been convicted of drink-driving and continued using her vehicle without a licence. 

Kari Newell found out and accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining and disseminating sensitive documents. 

Then came Friday’s raid and seizures, authorised by a search warrant that alleged identity theft and unlawful use of a computer. 

Mr Meyer openly condemned the raid, likening it to seizures conducted by repressive government regimes.

Press advocates have condemned the raid as an infringement on the freedom of the press. 

“An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know,” said Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association. 

The chairperson of the National Newspaper Association, John Galer, in a statement on Facebook, said, “Newsroom raids in this country receded into history 50 years ago. Today, law enforcement agencies, by and large, understand that gathering information from newsrooms is a last resort and then done only with subpoenas that protect the rights of all involved.

“For a newspaper to be intimidated by an unannounced search and seizure is unthinkable in an America that respects its first amendment rights.”