98-year-old co-owner of Kansas newspaper berates police in raid

The Kansas newspaper co-owner, who died shortly after police raided her home, berated Marion Police Department officers and asked if their mothers loved them, according to security footage verified by NBC News.

The Aug. 11 raid targeted the Marion County Record newsroom and the home of co-owner Joan Meyer, was heavily criticized by free speech advocates, and Meyer wasn’t afraid to tell officials that she didn’t think they had a right to be there.

“Get out of my house!” Meyer, 98, repeatedly told officers while using her walker to navigate the home she shared with her son Eric Meyer, the newspaper’s editor.

At some point during the search, she challenged an officer and asked if his mother loved him.

“Did your mother love you? Do you love your mother? “You’re an asshole,” the late co-owner told the newspaper. “Police chief? You’re the boss? Oh god. Get out of my house.”

Joan Meyer thought she was reaching out to Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, but he was actually yards away, within earshot in the kitchen, the newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, said Tuesday.

Joan Meyer, a respected longtime journalist who worked for the newspaper for 60 years, died of stress the day after the raid, Eric Meyer said.

Five days later, Marion County Prosecutor Joel Ensey found police had “insufficient evidence” to justify the raids, and the prosecutor ordered a court to return all items seized.