Police Raid of Kansas Newspaper Exposes Troubling Overreach and Backfires
Confidential court records reveal that the police chief who led the controversial raid on a Kansas newspaper justified the action by claiming that a reporter accessed a restaurant owner's driving record from a state database without proper authorization. The newspaper's editor and publisher deny any criminal intent and argue that the police response was excessive. The raid, which sparked outrage among First Amendment advocates, is being investigated to determine if the newspaper violated state law. The affidavits also detail a dispute between the restaurant owner and her estranged husband, which led to the release of the driving record.