MARION, KANSAS: An elderly co-owner of a newspaper died after a police raid placed her under extreme stress. Joan Meyer, 98, died on Saturday, August 12, according to reports.

As per Marion County Record, its office and the house of Meyer were raided on Friday, August 11. However, the extreme pressure did not let Meyer “eat after police showed up at the door of her home Friday with a search warrant in hand. Neither was she able to sleep Friday night.”

Who was Joan Meyer?

Meyer reportedly co-owned a weekly newspaper, the Marion County Record, founded in 1869. She is said to have been in "good health for her age” but did not cope with the trauma of the raid that took her life.

Publisher Eric Meyer reportedly said, “Our first priority is to be able to publish next week. But we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under the law.”

Police chief justifies the raid on Marion County Record

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody has reportedly justified the raid and said soon “the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated.” Also, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which was also involved in the raid, stated, “Director Mattivi believes very strongly that freedom of the press is a vanguard of American democracy…”

“But another principle of our free society is equal application of the law. No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media,” it added.

Why did cops raid Marion County Record office?

CBS News citing a report by Kansas Reflector stated that the raid was part of a probe involving “identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers. It also indicated police were looking for documents and records pertaining to local restauranteur Kari Newell.”

“Newell accused the Record at a city council meeting on August 7 of illegally obtaining drunken-driving information about her and supplying it to Herbel,” The Record reported, before mentioning, “The Record did not seek out the information. Rather, it was provided by a source who sent it to the newspaper via social media and also sent it to Herbel."

Press fraternity reacts to Joan Meyer's death

Seth Stern, advocacy director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, reportedly said about the incident, “This looks like the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes.”

“The anti-press rhetoric that's become so pervasive in this country has become more than just talk and is creating a dangerous environment for journalists trying to do their jobs,” Stern added.

PEN America also spoke out against the raid. Shannon Jankowski, PEN America's journalism and disinformation program director asserted, “Journalists rely on confidential sources to report on matters of vital public concern.”

“Law enforcement's sweeping raid on The Marion County Record and confiscation of its equipment almost certainly violates federal law and puts the paper's very ability to publish the news in jeopardy,” Jankowski noted.