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Marion police chief resigns after the widely-condemned raid of the Marion County Record newspaper in Kansas

2023-10-03 09:59
The Marion, Kansas, police chief who ordered a widely-condemned law enforcement raid on a local newspaper and its publisher this summer has resigned, the city's mayor said.
Marion police chief resigns after the widely-condemned raid of the Marion County Record newspaper in Kansas

The Marion, Kansas, police chief who ordered a widely-condemned law enforcement raid on a local newspaper and its publisher this summer has resigned, the city's mayor said.

Marion Police Department Chief Gideon Cody resigned on Monday, Mayor David Mayfield told CNN, but declined to comment further, calling it a "personal matter."

The Kansas Peace Officers Association did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on Gideon's resignation.

The chief's departure comes after he was suspended last week as an investigation into the raid continues.

In August, officers searched the office of the Marion County Record, as well as the home of the paper's publisher and a county councilwoman, seizing reporters' cell phones and computers, among other items. The move drew widespread criticism from news organizations and press freedom advocates.

Cody at the time suggested the raids were based on the belief that a reporter unlawfully obtained the driving records of a local restaurant owner before the paper published a story about her, according to unredacted affidavits obtained by CNN.

But less than a week after the raids, Marion County's top prosecutor Joel Ensey withdrew the search warrants and asked authorities to return the seized materials, saying "insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized."

This is a developing story and will be updated.