Police raid in Kansas threatens bedrock press freedoms

The Aug. 11 police raid on the Marion County Record in Kansas and on the home of its editor — during which officers seized computers, cellphones and documents — appears to be an episode of dangerous police overreach, running counter to a Kansas reporter’s shield law, federal law and First Amendment guarantee of press freedom. These protections exist for a reason: Professional journalists should not be hampered by government intrusion into legitimate reporting. The Record’s account of recent events shows not just why the police raid requires scrutiny but also why local newspapers are so precious.

Five officers led by Police Chief Gideon Cody and two sheriff ’s deputies seized four computers from the Record’s office, disconnected its router, and also searched the home of co-owner and publisher Eric

Meyer, making copies of his bank records and other personal materials. His 98-year-old mother, also co-owner, was distraught and died the next day. The home of Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel, 80, was also searched.

The police obtained a twopage warrant from Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, saying the police were acting on probable cause to believe that “identity theft” and “unlawful acts concerning computers” had been committed involving a local restaurateur, Kari Newell. According to the Record’s account, a source had given it information about Ms. Newell’s drunken-driving record, and a reporter had logged on to a state website to verify it. The reporter identified herself and confirmed the information about Ms. Newell. The newspaper concluded the information had come from Ms. Newell’s estranged husband and decided not to publish it. The information was relevant because Ms. Newell was seeking a liquor license from the city, and her history had been raised by Ms. Herbel at a recent city council session.

Separately, Mr. Meyer said the newspaper was investigating tips that the police chief, Mr. Cody, had left his previous job in Kansas City, Mo., to avoid repercussions for sexual misconduct allegations. Though the paper never published the information, details about the

person in the street might not get what scientific research is all about. But you might think that businesspeople, especially those who’ve made money in technology, would appreciate the value of research and technical expertise. And many do.

But there are forces working in the opposite direction. Success all too easily feeds the belief that you’re smarter than anyone else, so you can master any subject without working hard to understand the issues or consulting people who have; this kind of arrogance may be especially rife among tech types who got rich by defying conventional wisdom. The wealthy also tend to surround themselves with people who tell them how brilliant they are or with other wealthy people who join them in mutual affirmation of their superiority to mere technical drones — what the tech writer Anil Dash calls “V.C. Qanon.”

So, where does cryptocurrency come in? Underlying the whole crypto phenomenon is the belief by some tech types that they can invent a better monetary system than the one we currently have, all without talking to any monetary experts or learning any monetary history. Indeed, there’s a widespread belief that the generations-old system of fiat money issued by governments is a Ponzi scheme that will collapse into hyperinflation any day now. Hence, for example, Jack Dorsey’s 2021 declaration that “hyperinflation will change everything. It’s happening.”

Much of the recent turmoil in the crypto industry has had economists wondering: Didn’t these people look into the theory and history of bank runs? And the answer, of course, is that they didn’t think they needed to.

True, there have always been wealthy cranks. Has it gotten any worse?

I think it has. Thanks to the tech boom, there are probably more wealthy cranks than there used to be, and they’re wealthier than ever, too. They also have a more receptive audience in the form of a Republican Party whose confidence in the scientific community has collapsed since the mid-2000s.

So, in answer to Hotez, the dots are indeed connected. Anti-vax agitation and crypto enthusiasm are both aspects of a broader rise of know-nothingism, one whose greatest strength lies in an intellectually inbred community of very wealthy men.