To be honest, we were doubtful Eric Meyer of The Marion County Record and others would ever be compensated for the emotional and physical toll of having law enforcement officers ransack his newspaper and home on Aug. 11, 2023.
On Monday, Marion County agreed to pay a total of $3 million to those involved.
Well, those still with us.
Also compensated were reporters at the newspaper and former Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel and her husband, Ronald, whose home was also raided that fateful day.
Both raids were bogus. And were used as intimidation.
In Meyer’s case, law officials claimed information the newspaper had received on a local citizen invaded her privacy. The paper never published the information about the person in question but did verify its authenticity using the state’s online records, which officials claimed crossed the line.
Leading up to the raid, the newspaper also had been tipped off that the reputation of the town’s new police chief Gideon Cody was less than stellar and had begun investigating.
For Herbel, the raid appeared to be a scare tactic by heavy-handed city leaders who resented her positions on city council. Herbel often found herself as the lone opposition to the ruling body, especially when it came to personnel matters.
In both cases, city and county law officials worked together to weave grievances and hearsay into search warrants that were subsequently approved by a district judge.
And then they came knocking.
During the raid at the newspaper, officers took computers, hard drives, cell phones, routers and other materials of reporters and staff.
One reporter, Deb Gruver, said the police chief wrenched her cell phone from her hand.
At Meyer’s home, the experience was so traumatic for his 98-year-old mother, Joan, with whom Meyer shared a home and was co-owner of the paper, that she died of heart failure the next day. (A coroner confirmed the two were related.)
During the 2½-hour search there, police took photos of their personal bank records.
In an interview Tuesday with the New York Times, Eric Meyer said he imagined his mother “might actually have liked the fact that she became somewhat of a martyr to freedom of the press. Seeing this victory would be her vindication.”
IT APPEARS that only after the raids that county officials, at least, have become aware of their mistakes. Lawsuits against the city and police chief are in the works.
