Video released by the newspaper Monday shows Joan Meyer shouting at the six officers inside the Marion, Kansas, home she shared with her son, Marion County Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer. Standing with the aid of a walker and dressed in a long robe or gown and slippers, she seems visibly upset.

“Get out of my house … I don’t want you in my house!” she said at one point. “Don’t touch any of that stuff! This is my house!” she said at another.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    It doesn’t take much to find out how little protection one has from the state once they have their eye on you. Poor woman died the next day. What a terrible way to leave the world: traumatized.

    • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      1 year ago

      The newspaper received a FB dm with a local restaurant owner’s driver’s licence and DUI convictions. The paper verfied the info (as one can do, online, legally AND through the local PD) but decided not to use it.

      Another of their reporters was looking into the new chief of police as to why he left his former job (which paid a lot more). Seems there was some evidence of sexual harassment. The paper hadn’t run that either.

      So restaurant owner hears about this and freaks out because she’s been driving around town with a suspended license AND is trying to get a liquor license for her restaurant. She calls the PD, PD gets search warrants from a judge, and here we are.

      edit spelling

      • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        That’s a nice and succinct summary.

        I’ve been following this story pretty closely. I’m nowhere near to being part of the press, but I do enjoy seeing clumsy attempts at suppression blowing up in spectacular fashion. As this one has done.

    • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Straight up illegal attempts from the mayor and sheriff to shut down the local paper thqt was criticizing them

      • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        That couldve criticized them, but chose not to. But they knew and in Fascie Kansie that’s apparently enough.

        The judge should be disbarred and the police chief fired, stripped of any benefits and banned from working any job at any level of government.

    • Atomic@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      You’re not going to believe this! If you click the link, and read the article, it actually explains all of that!

  • blazera@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Have DoJ announced anything about dealing with this authoritarian physical assault on journalism?

    • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      1 year ago

      The newspaper is suing the cops and city. And since I’m NAL I’m unsure if the state or feds have first juristiction on this, iirc the state has already begun an investigation.

      • keeb420@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        The feds can look into it as a civil rights violation afaik. Because this is a major civil rights violation.

      • LeadSoldier@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The FBI supporting this and the far right is why we are here as a nation so I wouldn’t put much stock in them doing anything. They are federal police. Their brothers are the police officers who did this. They are one in the same. The FBI can just afford better messaging.

  • SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    I was trying to explain this story to my partner. It’s absolutely bonkers and that’s before I knew that poor lady died.