Pushback: Former police chief who illegally raided local Kansas newspaper charged
Former Marion police Chief Gideon Cody,
apparently proud to emulate Nazi tactics
The wheels of justice ground slow, but grind they do: In August 2023 the entire police department of Marion, Kansas, performed a Gestapo-like raid of a local newspaper’s offices as well as the homes the town’s vice mayor, the newspaper’s 98-year-old owner Joan Meyer (resulting in her death the next day from a heart attack), and one reporter.
All the evidence suggested the police chief, Gideon Cody, had performed the raid as a personal favor to a local businesswoman, Kari Newell, who was worried that newspaper might publish a story about her arrest for driving while intoxicated and without a license. Newell and Cody then worked together to use the police and a local judge, Laura Viar, to harass and hopefully destroy a newspaper. The newspaper survived, but their actions ended up killing its 98-year-old founder.
The public outrage was instantanous. Cody was soon suspended, and if Newell wished to keep her history out of the papers this raid was exactly the wrong way to do it. The story went national, exposing her drunk driving history to the world. Meanwhile five different federal lawsuits were filed against Cody and various other county and city officials. The reporter, Debbie Gruver, also resigned from the newspaper, saying she no longer felt comfortable in the Marion community.
It now appears that Cody, who officially resigned in October 2023, has now been charged with a crime in connection with the raid.
The former police chief who launched a raid on a Kansas newspaper office and two homes is expected to be charged with obstruction of judicial process, according to two special prosecutors who released their findings on the case Monday.
Nearly one year after the unprecedented raids, which made national news headlines, two special prosecutors assigned to review the case have determined no other crimes were committed. The case was presented to the prosecutors based on findings from both the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
It appears that these prosecutors found there was no grounds for charging Cody for the raids, but his actions allowed them to charge him with obstruction of judicial process, though no specifics of that charge have as yet been released.
Most importantly, the prosecutors concluded without doubt that no crime of any kind had been committed by any of the people accused by Cody. He thus had no cause for doing any search, other than his own personal vendatta.
Meanwhile the judge who approved the search warrant, Laura Viar, managed to escape discipline for her actions. In the secret proceedings before the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct, her defense made her appear quite incompetent and untrustworthy, since it was clear she approved a warrant when there was no evidence of any probable cause for a search. The commission let her off the hook, but the public outrage against her and the commission still lingers.
The lawsuits still have to wind their way through the courts. And the life of Joan Meyer can never be recovered. Nor can the reporter Gruver live and work in Marion any longer. But it is now very plain that in Kansas there will be harsh consequences if another police chief tries to abuse his power as Cody did. In this sense justice has certainly been done, and the rule of law made whole again.
May we see this happen nationwide, in the many numerous places where in the past five years government officials have repeatedly abused their power. That the rule of law could be defend this time tells us it is possible everywhere.
Readers!
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Former Marion police Chief Gideon Cody,
apparently proud to emulate Nazi tactics
The wheels of justice ground slow, but grind they do: In August 2023 the entire police department of Marion, Kansas, performed a Gestapo-like raid of a local newspaper’s offices as well as the homes the town’s vice mayor, the newspaper’s 98-year-old owner Joan Meyer (resulting in her death the next day from a heart attack), and one reporter.
All the evidence suggested the police chief, Gideon Cody, had performed the raid as a personal favor to a local businesswoman, Kari Newell, who was worried that newspaper might publish a story about her arrest for driving while intoxicated and without a license. Newell and Cody then worked together to use the police and a local judge, Laura Viar, to harass and hopefully destroy a newspaper. The newspaper survived, but their actions ended up killing its 98-year-old founder.
The public outrage was instantanous. Cody was soon suspended, and if Newell wished to keep her history out of the papers this raid was exactly the wrong way to do it. The story went national, exposing her drunk driving history to the world. Meanwhile five different federal lawsuits were filed against Cody and various other county and city officials. The reporter, Debbie Gruver, also resigned from the newspaper, saying she no longer felt comfortable in the Marion community.
It now appears that Cody, who officially resigned in October 2023, has now been charged with a crime in connection with the raid.
The former police chief who launched a raid on a Kansas newspaper office and two homes is expected to be charged with obstruction of judicial process, according to two special prosecutors who released their findings on the case Monday.
Nearly one year after the unprecedented raids, which made national news headlines, two special prosecutors assigned to review the case have determined no other crimes were committed. The case was presented to the prosecutors based on findings from both the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
It appears that these prosecutors found there was no grounds for charging Cody for the raids, but his actions allowed them to charge him with obstruction of judicial process, though no specifics of that charge have as yet been released.
Most importantly, the prosecutors concluded without doubt that no crime of any kind had been committed by any of the people accused by Cody. He thus had no cause for doing any search, other than his own personal vendatta.
Meanwhile the judge who approved the search warrant, Laura Viar, managed to escape discipline for her actions. In the secret proceedings before the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct, her defense made her appear quite incompetent and untrustworthy, since it was clear she approved a warrant when there was no evidence of any probable cause for a search. The commission let her off the hook, but the public outrage against her and the commission still lingers.
The lawsuits still have to wind their way through the courts. And the life of Joan Meyer can never be recovered. Nor can the reporter Gruver live and work in Marion any longer. But it is now very plain that in Kansas there will be harsh consequences if another police chief tries to abuse his power as Cody did. In this sense justice has certainly been done, and the rule of law made whole again.
May we see this happen nationwide, in the many numerous places where in the past five years government officials have repeatedly abused their power. That the rule of law could be defend this time tells us it is possible everywhere.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Based on the facts as given in the article, this is a complete whitewash.
Glad to see something come out of it that resembles justice.
But it certainly isn’t enough, at this point. Particularly, the judge needs to face consequences.
I put this story about the United States Secret Service burglarizing a private business in the same class as this story about the illegal raiding of the newspaper which directly caused the death of the elderly owner.
https://nypost.com/2024/08/11/us-news/secret-service-apologizes-to-salon-owner-over-break-in-bathroom-use-during-kamala-harris-event/
Why has the owner of the hair salon not filed burglary charges against the Secret Service operators who broke into her business without cause?
Because she knows down the line she will receive a visit from the IRS, FBI or other government three letter agency charging her with some fabricated crime.
These two stories clearly illustrate just how the abuse of power by government for government has grown and is just an everyday potential.
Government, all governments want the public to live in fear of it. And so, the Founders who very well understood the nature of government installed the several Constitutional elements to counterbalance and to reinstruct government not if but when government abused its power.
And we have clearly arrived!
CORE SIGMA3iOC
Government, all government despises anything that might limit or curtail its ultimate expression of its power over all concerned.
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/core-sigma3ioc-observations-reading