The Plot Thickens on That Bizarre Raid on a Local Kansas Newspaper That Was Investigating the Police Chief's Sexual Misconduct

Mark Reinstein. Shutterstock Images.

When a story comes out that has any many plot threads as this one did:

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… it's inevitable that there'll be follow ups. Lots and lots of follow ups. As Pee Wee (RIP) explained when his bike went missing, questions get answered. Others spring up. It's like unraveling a giant cable knit sweater that someone keeps knitting, and knitting and knitting. 

Here's the short version of what we knew a few days ago. The Marion County Register in Kansas is a small newspaper that was co-owned by Eric Meyer and his 98 year old mother, Joan. In an era where papers like this are disappearing faster than Blockbusters in the 2000s, these two kept publishing. As a labor of love, and out of loyalty to their staff. In fact, they didn't take salaries, and turned all the profits back to their employees. 

That is, until they were working on two stories. One was about the new police chief Gideon Cody, who had been on the job about four months after a career with the Kansas City PD. This guy:

The Record was investigating the sketchy circumstances that led Cody to leave the higher paying job at a big city department for this little jerkwater one.

They were also looking into a DUI charge against a restaurant owner named Kari Newell, who was trying to get a liquor license for her place, and allegedly told the Marion County PD the paper got information on her criminal case illegally. Which triggered a police raid that led Cody's department to basically kick the door in, confiscate hard drives, documents and cellphones. 

Then they raided Joan Meyer's home as well. And shortly after denouncing the raids and comparing them to the tactics of a certain German political party from 1930-45, she dropped dead. According to her son, from the stress of everything that had taken place. 

I think that pretty much hits the major bullet points of this sordid tale up to that point. But by no means was it going to end there. And it this rabbit hole has gotten a whole lot deeper. First, with what we've learned about the Chief:

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Kansas City Star - Gideon Cody left the Kansas City Police Department under a cloud, facing possible discipline and demotion, police sources have told The Star. Cody, who was a captain in the police department’s property crimes unit, was under internal review for allegedly making insulting and sexist comments to a female officer. The day after making the comments, Cody reportedly phoned the female officer and acknowledged his behavior was unprofessional.

But Cody, 54, didn’t know that the officer had secretly recorded their last conversation and later filed a hostile work environment complaint against him with police department officials.

And the judge who approved the raid:

Source - A Kansas judge who signed off on the “Gestapo-style” raid on the Marion County Record reportedly has two DUIs — raising questions about its possible impact on the jurist’s decision. 

Judge Laura Viar signed a warrant to allow a police raid on the newspaper over claims it illegally obtained DUI information about a local business owner. 

In 2012 [she] then was busted seven months later for a DUI in Morris County. 

In the latter incident, the then-county attorney — who went by Laura Allen — was driving a judge’s vehicle when she went off the road and hit a shed near the Council Grove football field, according to a 2012 report by WIBW. 

She also had a suspended license, according to KWCH. 

To be fair, picking up a DUI charge can happen to just about anyone. Picking up another one just seven months later, not so much. That's a terrible look for anyone, much less a lawyer for the government. But Laura (Allen) Viar paid her debt to society and became a judge. (Exactly the kind of judge any defense lawyer would love to bring a drunk driving case in front of, but that's beside the point.) Even though she was driving boozed up in some judge's car and went Full Smokey & the Bandit on a football field:

What stinks like an open septic tank about this is that Viar just happens to be the judge who signed off on a warrant allowing cops to violate one of the most basic rights Americans have. In order to cover up a sketchy police captain (alledgedly) creeping on his female employee and some other lady's drunk driving allegations. 

It's damned near impossible not to connect these dots and come up with a picture of political favors, blackmail, cronyism, extortion, threats and abuse of power. All of which resulted in people who are sworn to uphold the law using the Bill of Rights as toilet paper and an old lady being stressed literally to death. Which is exactly the kind of small town, podunk bullshit that makes life harder for all cops and judges who do their duty and protect people's basic liberties.

The silver lining in all this is that this is still America. And the press, while still largely distrusted and guilty of selling the public on any number of gigantic lies, is still capable of exposing corruption and giving their readers the truth they deserve. As Mr. Dooley put it, "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." And the justice system in Kansas is making the mess that Cody and Viar created right:

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Now we sit back and wait for the ones who are responsible for all this to be led away in handcuffs. Getcha popcorn ready.