Kansas newspaper owner, 98, calls cops ‘a–holes’ during raid

Newly released surveillance video shows the 98-year-old co-owner of a Kansas newspaper angrily calling cops “a–holes” during the controversial police raid on her home that her family blames for her death just a day later.

Video of the Aug. 11 raid shows an incensed Joan Meyer using a walker to follow cops around the home she shared with her son, Eric Meyer, the publisher and fellow co-owner of the Marion County Record.

“Don’t you touch any of that stuff!” she yells at the officers.

“Does your mother love you? … Do you love your mother? You’re an a–hole, police chief. You’re the chief? Oh, God, get out of my house!”

Footage of the raid, captured on Meyer’s security cameras, was shared online by her paper, The Marion County Record.

At the start of the video, a visibly upset Meyer asks her Alexa smart speaker to call her son. His phone can be heard ringing in the background — but is not answered as it had already been seized by police, the paper reported.

An officer can be heard asking Meyer, “How many computers do you have in the house, ma’am?” to which she replies, “I’m not going to tell you.”

Meyer then complained that officers were going through her personal papers, prompting a deputy to correct her.

“Those aren’t papers,” he said. “They’re electronic devices, which is what the judge said we’re supposed to take.”

The unprecedented raid — which caused so much stress it sent the otherwise healthy 98-year-old into cardiac arrest just 24 hours later — came amid an ongoing feud between the Marion County Record and a local restaurant owner Kari Newell.

The Record was allegedly in possession of leaked documents that could have gotten Newell’s liquor license revoked, including evidence that the restaurateur had been convicted of drunk driving and continued to operate a vehicle without a license.

The paper, however, chose not to report the story and instead notified police of the situation, believing the records they were given by a source may have been unlawfully obtained.

Newell then went on to claim in a city council meeting that the newspaper illegally obtained and disseminated the sensitive documents, which it denies.

The paper published a story on Thursday to set the record straight — and a day later, they were raided.

The search warrant against the Record identifies two pages worth of items that law enforcement officers were allowed to take, including computer software and hardware, digital communications, cellular networks, servers, and hard drives, items with passwords, utility records, and all documents and records pertaining to Newell.

The warrant specifically targeted ownership of computers capable of being used to “participate in the identity theft of Kari Newell.”

The Marion Kansas Police Department defended its actions and claimed that federal protections did not extend to the journalists because they were suspected of criminal activity.

Along with Meyer’s death, the newspaper noted that one of its reporters was injured when an officer grabbed her cell phone out of her hand.

The Marion County attorney later rescinded the search warrant, saying police lacked sufficient evidence.

Seized items started being returned last week, but as of Monday, the paper was still missing four computers, two hard drives and a router.

The seized items will be sent to a forensic expert to determine what police may have illegally obtained, the paper said.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took over the case last week. No charges have been announced.