By The Vanguard Staff
MARION, KA – The chief of police here was forced to resign, and a former news reporter for a weekly newspaper here recently pocketed a $235,000 settlement after a federal lawsuit was filed in response to a police raid of the weekly last year—which the The Associated Press said “made a small community the focus of a national debate over press freedoms.”
The more than quarter million dollar deal excluded the former police chief in Marion from the lawsuit filed by former Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver, said AP, but does not apply to two other officials in the lawsuit.
Those remaining as defendants are the Marion County sheriff and the county’s prosecutor.
Gruver’s lawsuit is ”among five federal lawsuits filed over the raid against the city, the county and eight current or former elected officials or law enforcement officers,” wrote AP, noting “Gruver’s attorney did not immediately respond to emails Friday seeking comment.”
The AP said, “An attorney for the city, its insurance company, the former chief and others declined to comment but released a copy of the June 25 settlement agreement after the Record filed an open records request. He also provided a copy to The Associated Press.”
The AP reported, “Former Police Chief Gideon Cody led the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the newspaper’s office, the home of publisher Eric Meyer and the home of a then-city council member who had been critical of the then-mayor.
“Marion is a city of about 1,900 people set among rolling prairie hills about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Record is known for its aggressive coverage of local government.”
Chief Cody said he had evidence the newspaper, reporter Phyllis Zorn and the city council member “committed identity theft or other computer crimes in obtaining information about a local business owner’s driving record. All of his targets said they did nothing illegal, and no charges were ever filed.”
A federal lawsuit filed by Meyer and the newspaper alleged the raid caused the death the next day of his 98-year-old mother, who lived with him, and “he and the paper’s attorney have suggested that the raid was Cody’s response to the paper investigating his background,” said AP.
The lawsuit stated Cody seized Gruver’s personal cellphone, searched her desk, even though the reporter was said to have no connection to the alleged charges, but was “looking into Cody’s past.”
AP wrote, “The raid sparked national outrage, and Cody resigned as chief in early October, less than two months after the raid. Legal experts have said the raid likely violated state or federal laws.”
