Prosecutor: News raid was wrong
Rules seized material needs to be returned
MARION, Kansas — A Kansas prosecutor said Wednesday that he found insufficient evidence to support the police raid of a weekly newspaper and that all seized material should be returned in a dispute over press freedoms that the White House acknowledged it is watching closely.
“This administration has been vocal about the importance of the freedom of press, here and around the globe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-pierre said at her daily briefing on Wednesday. “That is the core value when you think about our democracy, when you think about the cornerstone of our democracy, the freedom of press is right there.”
She said the raid raises “a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for us.”
On Wednesday, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record offices found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”
“As a result, I have submitted a
proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Monday it was leading the investigation into the raid and what allegedly prompted it.
Even without the computers,
personal cellphones and other office equipment taken in the raid, the small staff scrambled and were able to put out a new edition on Wednesday.
“SEIZED … but not silenced,” read the front-page headline in 2-inchtall typeface. On Wednesday’s front page, stories were focused solely on the raid and the influx of support the newspaper has received.