'A bunch of hicks': Police chief suspended after controversial raid on Kansas newspaper

The police chief of a small Kansas town who made global headlines by raiding the offices of the local newspaper has been suspended by the mayor who earlier had said the controversy made local officials "look like a bunch of hicks."

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody led the August raid, which included several officers and sheriff's deputies, at the Marion County Record and the homes of an owner of the paper and a vice mayor.

A search warrant indicated police were investigating a local restaurateur's claims the paper illegally obtained information about her, editor and publisher Eric Meyer said. But he has said he believes the real reason for the search was the paper's investigation of Cody's previous police work before being hired in Marion just months before the raid.

Mayor Dave Mayfield confirmed the suspension in an email to the Wichita Eagle, adding that he could not comment further because it was a personnel matter. Mayfield did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Developments:

∎ The warrant was ultimately withdrawn, but the raid drew an outcry from experts on press freedoms and the First Amendment.

∎ “Anyone should have realized that sending the entire police force to search a newsroom because journalists verified information from a source is an outrageous overreaction that threatens freedom of the press,” said Freedom of the Press Foundation Deputy Director of Advocacy Caitlin Vogus. “This raid never should have happened.”

'Everybody’s looking at Marion like we’re a bunch of hicks'

The case has drawn much unwanted attention to the town of about 2,000 people 60 miles northeast of Wichita. In a previous interview with the Eagle, Mayfield expressed dismay at the firestorm.

“I mean, everybody’s looking at Marion like we’re a bunch of hicks now,” Mayfield told the Eagle. “And the police department just did what the judge allowed them to do.”

Why did police raid the paper?Journalists decry attack on press

Chief Cody has defended the raid

Cody, who could not be reached for comment, defended the raid in an August Facebook post, saying that "when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated."

Footage released by the Record shows Meyer's mother, Joan Meyer, shouting at officers as they searched the home they shared. She died a day later, and Meyer said he believes the stress contributed to her death. Meyer said he expects to file a lawsuit in the case.

Why did police raid the local newspaper? 

Local restauranteur Kari Newell accused the Record of illegally obtaining and leaking information about a drunken-driving incident. The newspaper denies that. According to court documents obtained by USA TODAY, Cody alleged in an affidavit that a reporter was "either impersonating the victim or lying about the reasons why the record was being sought" when she accessed the driving records.

Cody said City Council member Ruth Herbel, whose home was also raided, had violated state laws against identity theft or computer crimes. But Meyer said those claims provided an excuse for the search, and the police chief was actually upset about Record reporter Debbie Gruver’s investigation into his behavior while a member of the police force in Kansas City, Missouri.

Gruver filed a federal lawsuit against Cody, accusing him of violating her constitutional rights by obtaining an “unreasonable and unlawful” search warrant and seizing her personal property, according to the complaint.

'Get out of my house':Video shows mother of Kansas newspaper publisher confronting cops

Contributing: The Associated Press