Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

This headline was edited by Raw Story.

LENEXA — A 74-year-old certified public accountant’s misunderstanding and subsequent call to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation sparked a police inquiry into a Lenexa City Council member’s citizenship, public records show, igniting public scrutiny and leading to records requests from local residents.

Melanie Arroyo, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018 and has served on the Lenexa City Council since 2021, disclosed the police investigation during an Aug. 5 council meeting. Her decision to go public that night caught colleagues and city staff by surprise, according to newly disclosed documents.

In a rare move, the city of Lenexa turned over the police investigative file and a copy of Arroyo’s citizenship certificate in response to records requests made by Kansas Reflector, the Kansas City Star and two local residents. The documents identify Douglas Shipe as the Lenexa man who made the initial complaint, and they shed new light on how police proceeded with their investigation into Arroyo.

Arroyo said she understands why police felt obligated to investigate but that she was disappointed in how they went about it.

“It just kind of confirms to me that they are not sensitive with how to handle immigration situations,” Arroyo said.

Shipe, a registered Republican and CPA who lives in Lenexa, called the KBI on July 8 and requested an investigation into Arroyo’s citizenship status based on written testimony she had provided to the Legislature in February.

Arroyo wrote about growing up “as an undocumented immigrant girl” in the testimony she provided in opposition to Senate Bill 254, which would have eliminated in-state tuition and other benefits for immigrants. She also wrote that she resolved her immigration status in order to attend college in Kansas. The Senate didn’t vote on the bill.

KBI agent Jeff Muckenthaler described Shipe’s call in an email to Lenexa police on July 16. Muckenthaler said he was forwarding the information “to handle however you deem appropriate.”

Lenexa police Detective Bill McCombs opened an investigation on July 21. His first move was to call Special Agent Hayden McGrath with Homeland Security Investigations to ask for assistance regarding Arroyo’s immigration status. McCombs provided Arroyo’s Social Security number and date of birth.

Arroyo said she was concerned to learn police had contacted Homeland Security Investigations about her.

Two days later, the investigative file shows, McCombs read Arroyo’s testimony. He noted that Shipe had “not understood” Arroyo’s testimony.

“As written, one would assume her immigration status was satisfied,” McCombs said.

In the meantime, Police Chief Dawn Layman had called Arroyo to let her know about the investigation. Arroyo responded by hiring an attorney who then sent a copy of Arroyo’s citizenship certificate to police. McCombs’ report said he cross-referenced the certificate with Arroyo’s driver’s license to verify that her full name and Social Security number matched. Homeland Security Investigations’ assistance was no longer needed.

Lenexa police Capt. Justin Schopfer reported that he called Shipe on Aug. 5 to provide an update. Schopfer explained that police had confirmed Arroyo’s citizenship, which predated her election to the city council.

“After ensuring Shipe had no further questions, I ended the call,” Schopfer said.

Shipe didn’t respond to Kansas Reflector phone calls or emails. Kansas Reflector attempted to knock on his door on Friday, but the apartment number he lists on his voter registration doesn’t exist. An employee in the leasing office for the apartment complex said she would give Shipe a copy of a Kansas Reflector business card, but he never called.

Online records show Shipe donated $100 to Republican Kris Kobach, who rose to prominence as a political figure for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, when Kobach was running for governor in 2018 and again in 2022 when he was running for attorney general. Shipe also donated a total of $925 to former state Sen. Julia Lynn, a Republican from Olathe, between 2012 and 2019.

Arroyo said she went public with her frustration over the police inquiry after federal authorities on July 30 raided El Toro Loco restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas. She voiced her concerns at the Aug. 5 council meeting, where numerous members of the public spoke in support of Arroyo.

“I understand why people would be frustrated with me,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “Speaking up is risky, and I recognize that, absolutely. At the same time, not speaking up also poses a major risk for everyone. So I really had to weigh my options here, and ultimately I decided that speaking up is in support of not just our immigrant community but in defense of constitutional rights and also in defense of our humanity. I could never regret doing that.”

Tim McCabe, a Lenexa resident who has testified before the Legislature about his displeasure with facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic and his concerns that China could influence the outcome of local elections, submitted a Kansas Open Records Act request directly to Arroyo seeking documents related to her citizenship status and the police investigative report.

Kansas Reflector asked McCabe why he submitted the request, if he was surprised by anything the city provided, and whether he is satisfied Arroyo is a U.S. citizen. He replied via email with a one-word response: “Nope.” He didn’t respond to an email seeking clarification.

Laura Owen also asked for police records and whether city staff had invited media to the Aug. 5 council meeting. She declined to comment.

MacKenzie Harvison, deputy city attorney, told her city staff were “entirely unaware” that Arroyo intended to talk about the investigation that night, until media outlets began to ask questions in the hours before the meeting.

The city could have exempted the requested records under state law because they are part of a police investigative file, Harvison said, but provided them in the interest of transparency.

Kansas Reflector submitted a Kansas Open Records Act request on Aug. 14 for other requests and the city’s response. The city failed to respond within three business days as required by law. On Wednesday, Harvison apologized for the delay.

“We had what felt like a million balls in the air last week and this simply fell through the cracks,” she said. “The city of Lenexa takes its commitment to transparency very seriously, and we strive always to meet and exceed the requirements of KORA. I know that we didn’t do so in this instance, and I apologize on behalf of all of the staff involved. Rest assured that this mistake was not intentional at all, just simply human error.”

LENEXA — Melanie Arroyo lives in two worlds.

There’s the one where the Lenexa City Council member has to “assimilate and perform” like her white counterparts, she said. Then there’s the authentic world, where she is aware of how vulnerable she is in this country, “simply because I’m brown and because I have an accent.”

“It feels lonely,” she said.

At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, which was packed with residents who were upset about last week’s raid by federal authorities at El Toro Loco restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas, Arroyo revealed that city police had recently investigated her citizenship status and required her to prove her citizenship.

It started with someone complaining to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation about testimony Arroyo submitted in February to a state Senate committee in opposition to a bill that would eliminate in-state tuition for immigrants. The individual — whom the KBI declined to identify — questioned whether Arroyo was a U.S. citizen and eligible to hold public office.

The KBI referred the complaint to Lenexa police, who questioned Arroyo. She hired an attorney and presented documentation from her 2018 naturalization. Police closed the case last week, two days before the El Toro Loco raids.

For Arroyo, the police inquiry was a painful reminder that a single disgruntled resident can disrupt her life by making a false allegation.

Arroyo told Kansas Reflector she decided to talk about her experience after the unrelated federal raid in Lenexa, which raised questions about whether agents had violated the rights of workers who were detained without regard for whether they had committed a crime, had a lawful immigration status, or were U.S. citizens.

Arroyo said the two situations were connected only by the underlying motive, “which is xenophobia.”

“I felt like I had this obligation to come forward with my story, to let people know in Kansas City that everybody needs to wake the f*** up,” Arroyo said. “You guys are still living in 2024, thinking that our judicial processes are intact, and they’re not. I’m living in the summer of 2025, being directly impacted by this, and so we need to adapt to the circumstances that we’re in. And I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know what the solutions are.”

Those who attended Tuesday night’s council meeting gasped when Arroyo revealed the police inquiry. They responded to her remarks with a standing ovation that lasted 20 seconds before Mayor Julie Sayers restored order with her gavel.

Councilwoman Courtney Eiterich expressed solidarity with Arroyo. Eiterich said her husband is an immigrant and that they have had conversations about whether he needs to keep naturalization papers with him.

In Lenexa and across the country, Eiterich said, authorities carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations are violating constitutional rights with the support of federal courts.

“I teach high school government, and this is really difficult for me to wrap my head around and try to explain to my students how this is happening and what is our role in trying to fix it. And I don’t have any answers,” Eiterich said.

No evidence for inquiry

Lenexa city attorney Sean McLaughlin defended the police investigation of Arroyo.

He said Arroyo’s testimony before the Legislature indicated she had overstayed her visa and didn’t acknowledge her naturalization. He pointed to a city ordinance that requires office holders to be citizens.

“We felt we had no choice but to investigate the matter because it is the city’s obligation to ensure compliance with our own ordinances,” McLaughlin told the council.

“We stand behind our actions,” he added.

Arroyo submitted written testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 254, which was supported by Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach. A Senate committee held a contentious hearing on the proposal in February and advanced the bill in March, but the full Senate never gave it consideration.

The testimony describes her experience growing up as “an undocumented immigrant girl” in the Kansas City area who didn’t speak fluent English. She said she was able to enroll in Kansas universities “with the condition that I resolved my immigration status.” She studied studio art and psychology at the University of Saint Mary and Johnson County Community College, then earned master’s degrees in clinical counseling and art therapy at Emporia State University.

Melissa Underwood, a spokeswoman for the KBI, said a Johnson County resident referenced Arroyo’s testimony in a voicemail left at the agency’s Lenexa office. The KBI referred the matter to city police, Underwood said, because the state agency typically doesn’t investigate immigration-related matters. Underwood said the complaint didn’t come from Kobach.

“The information was sent to the Lenexa Police Department for follow-up as they deemed appropriate,” Underwood said.

In a brief interview after the city council meeting, McLaughlin acknowledged there was no evidence to support a complaint about Arroyo’s citizenship status.

But, he said, “just because evidence doesn’t exist doesn’t mean we don’t investigate.”

Public outcry

Two dozen community members voiced concerns to the council about the investigation of Arroyo and the raid on a local restaurant.

They included Kansas Rep. Susan Ruiz, LGBTQ+ activist Jae Moyer, immigration attorney Anne Parelkar, two pastors, and Roeland Park City Council member Jen Hill, who was Arroyo’s 8th grade English teacher in 2005.

Even then, Hill said, Arroyo’s “voice carried strength, clarity and purpose.”

“It’s because I know her so well that I’m both saddened and outraged by the recent false allegations questioning her citizenship,” Hill said. “These claims are not only entirely unfounded, they are a blatant attempt to discredit her based on her ethnicity, rather than recognizing the immense value of her service and her character.”

Sara Rohleder told the council this was the first local government meeting she had ever attended, and “that’s saying a lot.” She referenced the approximately 150 people who attended the meeting and pointed out that many of them were in the 18-25 age range.

“I’m very concerned,” Rohleder said. “I don’t know what future I have. I don’t know what future my cousins have, who are younger than me. I think this sets a very dangerous precedent. I think this is very, very serious, and I really strongly feel — I honestly feel comfort in knowing that it’s not just me who’s feeling this, because it’s a very isolating time. Look at all these people. Everyone’s here because they care about what’s going on.”

Muñeca Nieves described herself as a proud Afro-Caribbean woman who works for the federal government. She said she had lost 40 pounds by walking to work every day, but “I don’t do it anymore, because I’m brown.”

“Every time a black SUV comes by, I get scared,” Nieves said.

She also said she was “extremely disappointed” in the Lenexa city attorney’s insistence that police were just “following the rules” when they investigated Arroyo.

“Those rules equate to racial profiling,” Nieves said, “which is against the law.”

Police chief responds

Lenexa Police Chief Dawn Layman addressed the council at the end of the meeting and acknowledged the hurt expressed by Arroyo.

“I apologize if I made you feel that way,” Layman told her.

Layman said Homeland Security Investigations notified her a week in advance that they would execute a criminal search warrants, authorized by a federal judge, at the El Toro Loco in Lenexa. They mutually agreed that Lenexa police officers would not be on site, she said.

She said the federal raids were related to an ongoing investigation into labor exploitation.

Layman said her department is focused on public safety and serving all who live, work and visit Lenexa, regardless of immigration status.

“Our responsibility is to protect the public, uphold the law, maintain public order and serve our community with honor, integrity and professionalism, and that is in regardless of our personal beliefs or opinion,” Layman said.

In an interview, Arroyo said Layman was unaware of the political and historical weight of asking someone for their papers. But Arroyo also stressed that she doesn’t think Lenexa police are the problem.

“My concern is that we are not aware of the times that we’re living in,” Arroyo said, “and we’re failing to meet the moment.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the pretense of a national emergency to justify a secret, no-bid contract with CoreCivic that would pay the company $4.2 million per month to house detained immigrants at its vacant Leavenworth prison.

CoreCivic revealed in court filings the amount of money it stands to lose if the city of Leavenworth prevails in legal proceedings aimed at blocking the company from reopening its prison. But the details of the contract remain undisclosed.

ICE filed internal paperwork that outlines the agency’s “justification” for giving contracts to private companies without going through the normal bidding process or revealing the cost, citing President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “national emergency at the southern border.” The agency said the situation “poses significant public safety risks.”

The secrecy, cost and justification of the contract outraged immigration advocates who oppose CoreCivic’s plans to reopen the Leavenworth facility — because of the company’s track record of abuse and neglect of prisoners and the nationwide crackdown by masked ICE agents who show little regard for civil rights or the status of people they detain.

“We just want to say we can overpay billionaires to house human beings on civil law violations,” said Michael Sharma-Crawford, a Kansas City-based immigration attorney. “I just don’t even know where we go from here. I just don’t. I mean, everything is geared to making billionaires more billions and continuing to crush any dissidents and human rights along the way.”

Sharma-Crawford said residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

“This isn’t a national emergency. You are entering into a contract for the housing of civil detainees,” he said. “There’s nothing secret about that. There’s no scientific knowledge. There is no tactical knowledge. There is nothing that is secret about what you’re paying to house people.”

The justification

ICE published its “justification” document April 7 under the category of “unusual and compelling urgency.” The document references a five-year commitment to pay unnamed companies to operate nine facilities that combined would have 10,312 beds, including 1,000 in Kansas. The cost of the secret contracts is redacted.

The document notes that “many jurisdictions” have refused to work with ICE in recent years, making the agency increasingly reliant on private companies. An open competition for bids would take a year to complete, the document said.

“ICE does not have the time for the competitive process to be completed to procure more beds,” the document said. “Increased detention capacity is needed immediately to avoid the release by ICE of a significant numbers of aliens into United States.”

CoreCivic operated a federal pretrial prison in Leavenworth for more than two decades. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in 2021 described the facility, with its routine violence and lengthy lockdowns, as “an absolute hell hole.” The facility closed on Jan. 1, 2022, when President Joe Biden’s administration ended contracts with private prisons.

The city of Leavenworth filed a lawsuit to block CoreCivic from reopening the facility as an immigration detention center. The city argues that company should seek a permit, which could require the company maintain certain standards at the facility. A state district court judge issued a temporary injunction blocking CoreCivic from reopening the facility while the matter is being litigated.

The company asked the judge in a June 13 court filing to reconsider the temporary injunction.

“CoreCivic has a Contract with ICE under which it stands to lose approximately $4.2 million in monthly revenue if the Court maintains the temporary injunction,” the court filing said.

Ryan Gustin, a spokesman for CoreCivic, said the company is “pursuing all avenues to find a successful conclusion to this matter.”

“CoreCivic has been actively marketing our Leavenworth facility for years,” he said. “We stay in regular contact with ICE and all our government partners to understand their changing needs, and we work within their established procurement processes. Any questions about our contractual relationship with ICE should be directed to ICE Public Affairs.”

ICE Public Affairs didn’t respond to a Kansas Reflector inquiry.

Profit from pain

Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the deal between ICE and CoreCivic “reflects a broader pattern of collusion between private corporations and their enablers in this presidential administration.”

“By circumventing its own requirements for contract bidding, ICE has essentially ensured that its favorites get hefty, federal contracts fueled by taxpayer dollars to fill their prisons, and we’ve seen how this money grab translates into reckless, at times horrifying conduct by masked, anonymous agents in our neighborhoods.”

Sharma-Crawford, the immigration attorney, said he has clients who were detained by ICE after they entered the country on a visa or immediately filed for asylum and were here lawfully. He said ICE agents were “grasping at straws to make numbers.”

Ashley Hernandez, organizing and policy coordinator for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth’s Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, said the supposed national emergency is only “in people’s heads.”

“We’ve seen a lot of propaganda and a lot of hate speech that kind of drives that,” Hernandez said. “I think the national emergency, if we want to say there is one, is that there are people coming to our country seeking help, seeking a better life, and they’re fleeing the true national emergencies that are in their countries. They’re fleeing death. They’re fleeing sickness. They’re fleeing pain.”

She said she was interested to know whether CoreCivic’s contract includes standards for maintaining the facility, treatment of detainees, medical care, and access to translators and a full-time judge of duty. Without standards, she said, “it’s just another hell hole.”

She said it was “just insanity” to allow any company “to profit off of human pain.”

“As Catholics, as people of faith, we are called to treat everyone with dignity,” Hernandez said. “We are called to help the poor, help the sick, walk with the marginalized and be their voices. So our faith really calls us to make sure that this detention center doesn’t happen.”

This story is published in partnership with Creative Commons. Read the original article here.

TOPEKA — As Kansas Rep. Pat Proctor launched his campaign to oversee state elections, he honed in on a signature phrase that would serve his interest of dismissing critics — and reporting by Kansas Reflector — while appealing to far-right voters.

His ambiguous “axis of ballot harvesting” serves as a catchall for anyone who challenges his false claims about the hazards of early voting, and signals a vast make-believe conspiracy by foreign nationals to undermine elections.

Proctor frequently repeats the phrase on the campaign trail, and used it in a fundraising message where he suggested a new law could be used to bring criminal or civil charges against Kansas Reflector.

When video surfaced in April of Proctor asserting that women stole the 2022 election on abortion, he falsely claimed the video had been doctored by voting rights advocates at the core of the so-called “axis.”

And when three nonprofits filed a lawsuit in early May to challenge new restrictions on early voting, Proctor exclaimed on social media: “The axis of ballot harvesting strikes again!”

The Leavenworth Republican declined to answer questions from Kansas Reflector seeking clarity about his contradictory comments and a definition of “the axis of ballot harvesting,” echoing President George W. Bush’s use of “axis of evil” to describe nations propping up terrorism in the early 2000s. Proctor, a retired Army colonel serving his third, two-year term in the state House, also declined to identify an example of anything Kansas Reflector has published that is inaccurate.

Instead, Proctor responded with the following statement: “Here’s a quote for you: ‘You are a partisan hack and your so-called ‘newspaper’ is a woke, leftist propaganda rag.’ Thanks for the opportunity to comment.”

The response is consistent with Proctor’s frequent criticism — including personal attacks on social media — of journalists who accurately report on him.

So far, Proctor is the only Republican to file for secretary of state in next year’s election cycle. The job involves overseeing voter registration in Kansas and guiding county-level administrators on election policy.

Republican Rep. Ken Rahjes, of Agra, plans to join the race. In an interview, Rahjes didn’t criticize Proctor. Rahjes said he is focused on “making sure our elections are safe, secure, and that Kansans have confidence that their vote is counted.”

“If you look at the outcomes of the last three presidential elections in Kansas, Donald Trump has won all three,” Rahjes said. “It looks like those elections have turned out the way that the people in Kansas have wanted.”

In contrast, Proctor calls for restrictions on early voting — even though he acknowledges that he personally enjoys the convenience of voting early. And after launching his campaign for secretary of state in early April, Proctor has criticized voting rights groups — Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed, League of Women Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas — who challenge his proposals in legislative hearings and in court.

Loud Light circulated on social media a video clip of Proctor speaking at a June 20, 2024, forum on elections that was published on Rumble, the far-right alternative to YouTube.

During the forum, Proctor recalled the fierce campaign ahead of Kansas’ August 2022 vote on abortion rights. Kansans overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment to strip those rights, and post-election audits and recounts affirmed the integrity of the election. Illegal voting is exceedingly rare in Kansas, as a federal judge ruled in 2018, as it is in the rest of the U.S.

But Proctor said he was going around to polling places in advance of the August 2022 election, “and there’s, like, all these, like, women, like 20- to 30-year-old women who, you know, that you never saw at the polls before, and it’s like a long line, got a long line, and they’re all there to vote, and it’s just the — it’s they’re stealing it fair and square.”

The Loud Light clip was unaltered, but when Proctor was asked during an April 19 town hall in Leavenworth to explain his comments, he replied: “That’d be really terrible if I’d actually said that.”

“They chopped up a video to make it look like I said that 20- and 30-year-old women were stealing the election by voting, or something like that,” Proctor said.

Melissa Stiehler, advocacy director for Loud Light, said in an interview that she was bothered by Proctor’s willingness to “drift further away from the truth” and “really embrace things that he knows to be lies.”

“We’ve had these conversations behind closed doors in the past. He knows that these things aren’t true, and yet he’s embracing this culture of conspiracy theories for his own political gain, which is desperate and shameless,” Stiehler said.

In an April 12 fundraising email, Proctor warned of “a shadowy collection of groups I call the ‘axis of ballot harvesting.'” His targets included Loud Light and States Newsroom, the parent organization of Kansas Reflector.

Proctor’s email said Kansas Reflector “is part of a vast, dark money, left-wing propaganda machine called States Newsroom.” He said “a significant percentage of that organization’s funding” comes from foreign sources, including the Swiss businessman Hansjörg Wyss.

States Newsroom follows all laws regarding nonprofits and does not accept donations from foreign-based entities. The U.S.-based Wyss Foundation’s $1.14 million grant to States Newsroom in 2020 has never been a secret. On its website, States Newsroom publishes an extensive list of donors who have contributed more than $1,000, as well as its 990 tax forms. The organization’s annual fundraising exceeds $20 million to support nonprofit news operations, including Kansas Reflector, in 39 states.

“As Chair of the House Committee on Elections, in response to this threat, I introduced House Bill 2106 to begin the process of getting foreign money completely out of Kansas politics,” Proctor wrote. “This first-step bill requires organizations campaigning for or against constitutional amendments to ensure and certify that they have not accepted foreign money over the preceding four years or face serious civil and criminal consequences.”

He then said the law would prevent “foreign nationals like Hansjörg Wyss from improperly influencing Kansas elections.”

HB 2106 requires any entity “who engages in any activity promoting or opposing” a proposed constitutional amendment to certify that each donor is not a “foreign national,” and that each donor has not received more than $100,000 from any foreign national within a four-year period.

Kansas Reflector reports on the stakes of policies and elections but doesn’t advocate for or against ballot questions or candidates.

Proctor offered a different interpretation of the law during a Feb. 4 hearing in his committee, where Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose appeared via video to complain about States Newsroom.

“We are not about to legislate who can spend money doing news in the state of Kansas, OK. We’re not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole,” Proctor said at the time.

The Legislature adopted the bill with veto-proof bipartisan support — 94-25 in the House and 39-0 in the Senate — in advance of next year’s vote on a constitutional amendment that would replace the current nominating system for Kansas Supreme Court justices with statewide elections for judicial candidates. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly allowed HB 2106 to become law without her signature.

An abortion-rights advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit to try to block the law from taking effect.

Stiehler said Proctor’s language in the fundraising email was “really teetering on the line of at least some dog whistle language of antisemitic, globalist conspiracy theories.”

“This is a lot of hullabaloo,” she said. “He’s making up a fake problem and making up a fake enemy to try and create and drive the fear, to prove that only he is the one to fix it. And it’s all based on lies and nonsense.”

TOPEKA — Rep. Ford Carr says Republicans intend to slander his reputation and expel him from the Legislature for being a “scary Black man.”

Speaking truth to power, he told Kansas Reflector, “has a way of making many uncomfortable,” including some of his fellow Democrats.

Officially, the House Select Investigating Committee is considering a complaint made by Rep. Leah Howell, a Derby Republican, that alleges Carr, a Wichita Democrat, broke a House rule about using disorderly words while debating legislation.

But Carr says he is actually being punished for pointing out racism in the Statehouse and filing a complaint against a Republican who verbally accosted him at his desk during a floor debate.

“I would have to say that when you speak out against racism and the Republican Party, removing you and silencing your voice as a Black man is always the intent,” Carr said in an email.

The committee, with three Republicans and three Democrats, on Tuesday heard evidence in Carr’s case and on Thursday plans to listen to both Carr and Howell before deciding whether to recommend the House reprimand, censure or expel Carr. Any of those options would require support from two-thirds of House members.

The evidentiary hearing was held in a room where the maximum capacity is 45, and a crowd of more than 60 spilled out into the hallway. Most were there to show support for Carr.

“This is an injustice,” said Marcus Clark, pastor at Love Fellowship Church in East Topeka, in an interview before the hearing. “The reason for our presence and our support is because we believe firmly injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

He was invoking the famous words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in talking about the complaint against Carr.

“My hope and prayer is that the support shown here by the community today will be influential, that the support he’s receiving from the wider community will be a clear indicator that it’s not appreciated how he’s being mistreated,” Clark said.

Later, the committee chairman would throw the pastor out of the room for clapping.

Marcus Clark, pastor at Love Fellowship Church in East Topeka, says supporters of Rep. Ford Carr were drawn to the March 25, 2025, hearing because they view it as “an injustice.” He was ejected from the hearing for clapping. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The 24-point list of evidence in the complaint against Carr ranges from comments he made during House debates over the past two years to news articles to video that shows him shouting at a Wichita councilman in January in a Topeka bar.

Then, in February, a heated confrontation between Carr and Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, brought debate to a standstill. Carr had thanked another Republican for not being too racist to answer his questions. Hoheisel subsequently marched across the chamber, thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and told him: “That’s bulls***.”

Carr filed a complaint against Hoheisel, but the investigating committee deadlocked in a party-line tie on whether to dismiss or proceed.

Howell’s complaint alleges Carr violated House decorum during the February exchange. On Tuesday, Carr objected to the presentation of evidence that has nothing to do with the alleged rule violation. He also pointed out that, in order to consider such a violation, someone needed to challenge his remarks during the debate, which didn’t happen.

Carr said the procedure was “100% out of order.”

“The question before us is do we make up the rules as we go, or do we abide by them?” Carr said.

He said the only disruption he may have made was “after the other member came across the floor, after the other member walked up to me, after the other member put his finger in my face, after the other member uttered profanities in my face —”

Rep. Bob Lewis, a Garden Center Republican who chairs the committee, cut Carr off.

“We’ll take your objection under advisement,” Lewis said.

As Carr made his way back to his front-row seat, he told the crowd: “You see how they’re making up rules.”

“Excuse me?” Lewis said. “Mr. Carr, there will be none of that. You understand?”

“I do understand, sir. And thank you very much for that point,” Carr said.

Rep. Bob Lewis, R-Garden City, and Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, watch a video clip during a March 25, 2025, evidentiary hearing for a complaint against Rep. Ford Carr. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The committee reviewed evidence in chronological order, which included the recitation by Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican who sits on the committee, of an article Carr wrote in 2023 for Community Voice in Wichita. It was titled: “Yes I Called My Fellow Black Kansas Lawmaker ‘A House Negro’ and I Regret Nothing.”

When Clark, the Topeka pastor, clapped at the conclusion of the article, Lewis demanded he be removed from the room. There were no law enforcement present, but Clark voluntarily got up from his back row seat and resumed clapping as he left.

Rep. Dan Osman, an Overland Park Democrat who sits on the committee, asked Lewis if he could inform the committee while reviewing evidence which specific rule violations were under consideration.

“This is getting ahead of ourselves, but the precedent in this body going back to 1951 provides that you can look beyond any specific rule in addressing misconduct,” Lewis said.

Carr tried to make another objection about the reading of his quotes from news articles. Lewis told him he should email any objections after the hearing and that Carr would be allowed to testify about them on Thursday.

“I do understand what you’re saying and where this is going,” Carr said.

Rep. Ford Carr tells committee members during a March 25, 2025, hearing that the proceedings against him are “100% out of order.” (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The presentation of evidence included two clips taken with smartphones that show a heated shouting match between Carr and Wichita Councilman Brandon Johnson in January at the Celtic Fox, a bar across the street from the Statehouse. Lewis described the evidence as the work of “videographers,” although he couldn’t or wouldn’t say who took the videos.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat who observed the hearing while standing against a side wall, muttered: “Videographers? Jesus Christ.”

At another point, when reviewing comments Carr made in 2023, she could be heard saying: “This isn’t even from this session.” Humphries shot her a glare.

When Clayton left the committee room, she paused to tell this reporter: “If we’re bringing up the past, I may have several complaints I need to issue.”

She didn’t elaborate.

Howell, whose complaint said Carr had created an unsafe workplace, sat stone-faced chewing gum in back of committee room as the video from the Celtic Fox showed her gently rubbing Carr’s shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

TOPEKA — Sen. Virgil Peck wants to raise the rent of reporters who write “inaccurate” things about him from their Statehouse offices.

The Associated Press, Kansas City Star, Topeka Capital-Journal, Kansas Public Radio, KSNT-TV and Hawver’s Capitol Report, now run by State Affairs, currently pay $100 per year for basement offices that range in size from 154 to 311 square feet.

Peck, a Havana Republican, inserted into the state budget a directive to increase the rent to $1 per square foot per month, which collectively would total $16,000 per year for the six news outlets.

“I don’t understand, No. 1, why we have office space for the press, but why we are not charging them something,” Peck said during a March 11 Senate budget hearing. “And I realize that the press will probably write my name a few times now, but I don’t care. I just don’t think that taxpayers — when I mention this in a forum back home, people come unglued: ‘You are only charging $100 a year for the press to write stories about you,’ that frequently are inaccurate. Those are my words.”

Peck offered no evidence to support his claim that journalists write inaccurate stories.

No one else on the Senate Ways and Means Committee voiced support for Peck’s proposal, but the committee agreed by a party line voice vote to insert the rent change into the state budget, which is formally called Senate Substitute for Substitute of House Bill 2007. The Senate passed the budget, with the rent change, on a 28-12 vote on March 18, but the Senate and House still need to work out differences before sending it to the governor for consideration.

Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, has the option to veto the bill in its entirety or individual line items.

The Senate committee’s two Democrats both challenged Peck to justify the rent change.

During a March 13 debate on Peck’s proposal, Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat, asked: “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been allowing press to have space in the Capitol?”

Peck’s response: “Yes, absolutely. Too long.”

Pettey said journalists provide a valuable service in delivering information to the public about what’s happening in the Statehouse.

“This seems to be a way to look at reducing that access by saying they have to pay more. I don’t think it hurts us,” Pettey said.

She also challenged Peck’s assertion that the people he heard from in forums in his district are opposed to providing Statehouse office space to journalists.

“You know, I might get a different reaction if I chaired it at a town meeting in my community,” Pettey said.

The public still wants information, she said, “and we don’t have to be the only source.”

Peck told her his proposal wouldn’t keep journalists from reporting from the Statehouse.

“They can sit in the benches in the hallway and write whatever they want to write,” Peck said. “It has nothing to do with anything other than if you are not a government agency, I don’t think you should have free space in the state Capitol.”

He moved forward with his amendment, which directs the secretary of the Department of Administration to collect monthly rental payments in the amount of $1 per square foot “from any nonstate entity that leases or is assigned office space” in the Statehouse. Peck said the journalists were still getting a bargain because the state typically charges nearly $2 per square foot per month for office space elsewhere.

Before the committee voted on the amendment, Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, raised concerns about how news publications have struggled financially in recent years.

“The press is an important part of reporting on democracy and bringing things to light,” Holscher said. “So coverage of what we do is important to our democracy. It’s important to keeping citizens informed, and again, because of that and because of the need to have them here, plus the fact that financially, so many of them are struggling, to me, this is not a good look for us.”

Holscher also said in a statement that she was “appalled by the actions taken by the extremist/MAGA legislators who dominate our state government who continue to work to keep the press at bay.”

“While the claim is being made this is being done as a fairness issue, the disdain some legislators have for the press is indisputable,” Holscher said. “It should make citizens ask what exactly these elected officials are wanting to hide.”

When Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit news outlet, launched five years ago, administrators said there wasn’t office space available at the Statehouse because it was already taken by legacy media. The Kansas Reflector office is two blocks north of the Statehouse in Suite 408 of the Columbian Building, 112 S.W. 6th Ave.

TOPEKA — All hail civil disobedience.

Gov. Laura Kelly intervened Wednesday in satanists’ plans to conduct a black mass on March 28 at the Statehouse by declaring they would not be allowed inside.

The satanists plan to defy her undivine wisdom.

“We will be showing up on the 28th,” said Michael Stewart, founder and president of the Satanic Grotto, which organized the event. “We will be entering the building and attempting to perform the mass, and if Capitol Police want to stop us, they will need to arrest us.”

The Satanic Grotto’s plans to conduct a black mass in the Statehouse rotunda stimulated considerable attention online — and outrage from the Catholic Church.

In cheeky social media posts, Stewart describes satanists as “the scariest thing in the dark.”

But in an interview, he said he was planning a safe event, with nothing to be afraid of. His said his group has about three dozen members, primarily from Kansas City and Wichita, and is nonviolent.

“The black mass is a satanic version of the Catholic mass, meant to reflect our own pain and anger of us being subjected to religion that we never gave consent to,” Stewart said. “It was imposed upon us. So the ritual is sort of — you can think of it as therapeutic blasphemy.”

The group describes itself on its website as an independent and nondenominational church whose members are feminist, LBGTQ+ allies, and anti-racist — “Nazi Satanists can f*** off.”

The Satanic Grotto’s event listing on Facebook shows 26 plan to attend and 116 are interested in the event.

Chuck Weber, of Kansas Catholic Conference, said in a March 6 statement that such an “explicit demonstration of anti-Catholic bigotry will be an insult to not only Catholics, but all people of good will.”

“The Catholic Bishops of Kansas ask that first and foremost, we pray for the conversion of those taking part in this event, as well as each person’s own conversion of heart during this scared Season of Lent,” Weber said in the statement.

The governor entered the arena Wednesday, when she issued a statement declaring her concerns about the event. She said there are “more constructive ways to protest and express disagreements without insulting or denigrating sacred religious symbols.”

She acknowledged the right to freedom of speech and expression — “regardless of how offensive or distasteful I might find the content to be” — and that she has limited authority to respond to the planned event.

“That said, it is important to keep the Statehouse open and accessible to the public while ensuring all necessary health and safety regulations are enforced,” Kelly said in her statement. “Therefore, all events planned for March 28 will be moved outdoors to the grounds surrounding the Statehouse. Again, no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse on March 28.”

Stewart said the governor’s office didn’t call him before issuing the public statement.

“This is a Democrat governor bowing to religious and Republican pressure,” Stewart said. “There was enough outrage that she had to do something, but she’s so chicken to actually stand up for anything, the best she could do was try to shuffle us outside and make it look like she has done something to save her own hide instead of standing up for religious and free speech.”

TOPEKA — An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions.

Democrats accused Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, of trying to start a fight with Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, by launching obscenities at Carr. The confrontation took place at Carr’s desk on the House floor.

The incident happened during debate over House Bill 2104, which would require school districts to implement an NRA program known as Eddie Eagle in public elementary schools, starting in kindergarten, if the schools want to teach gun safety. It was among dozens of bills the House has debated this week ahead of a deadline to advance legislation.

Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, interrupted legislators debating the NRA curriculum bill and called for a point of order, citing “a need for decorum.” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, then came to the front of the House chamber and asked for Hoheisel to be admonished.

“While I did not observe everything that occurred, I heard exactly what happened,” Carmichael said. “The member strolled through the Democratic seats using profanity, and in my view, from what I heard, was attempting to incite a fight. And I ask that the member be admonished never to do that again.”

In an interview, Carmichael said Hoheisel thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and repeatedly said, “That’s bulls---.”

After House Republican leadership recessed the House to break the tension, House Democrats banned reporters from a secret meeting at the Capitol to discuss the situation. Kansas Reflector obtained an audio recording of that meeting, in which members raise concerns about Hoheisel’s behavior and whether he was carrying a gun.

Hoheisel declined to comment for this story but disputed claims made by Democrats.

“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel said in a text message.

Carr didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but in the secret meeting, he joked about his willingness to get in a fight. Last month, he shoved another Democratic legislator to the ground during a bar fracas with a Wichita councilman. Democrats laughed at the reference during their secret meeting.

“I know that side of the aisle, and they constantly vote for gun rights,” Carr said. “I also know that some of them carry guns. I have one in my office. There’s a strong possibility that that gun will be on my person unless something is done, right?”

Carr continued: “He got up, he came over to me, and he made attacks. I can’t honestly see how someone of his stature would feel comfortable making those kind of attacks at me” — he paused for laughter — “unless, of course, he feels like he has some sort of an equalizer. So at this point, I feel like I need to equal and level the playing field.”

Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat who runs House Democratic caucus meetings, said in the caucus meeting: “I understand what you’re saying along those lines, but what we’re asking is that we deescalate what happened.”

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, told his caucus: “Everyone needs to breathe.”

“Him coming up to you on the floor and saying that s--- is bull----, but we can’t stoop to the low level of Republicans,” Woodard said during the closed meeting of Democrats.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Heather Meyer, an Overland Park Democrat, said they didn’t feel safe on the House floor.

Meyer asked her fellow Democrats “to remember that some of us have extensive, long-term trauma from gun violence, and we need to be chill.”

“This kind of talk makes me nervous, makes me not want to go back on the floor today, makes me want to go the f*** home,” Meyer said. “I am done with gun violence, and I just need you guys to remember that. Because I’m sitting here listening to this conversation thinking if I even want to be here, because it’s f---ing scary, and I am tired of being put in the line of fire.”

When the House reconvened, with a larger than usual Capitol Police presence on the floor, Republican leadership canceled the scheduled votes on the Eddie Eagle bill, as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would assert a God-given right to own guns, ammunition and firearm accessories.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, and Woodard issued a joint statement on the “events that transpired on the House floor,” but didn’t respond to a request to explain what happened.

“The House of Representatives remains focused on the 2025 legislative session and completing the work we have been sent here to do,” they said in the joint statement. “The legislative session is an immense undertaking that requires a unified effort. We appreciate the continued dedication of our House members to the people of Kansas.”

Carmichael, who said he declined to participate in the meeting of House Democrats because it wasn’t open to the press, said Republican leadership did the right thing in the moment by shutting down debate and skipping over the gun bills.

“In the longer term,” Carmichael said, “leadership is going to have to have long conversations with some of their members.”

“I do not feel safe on the floor under these circumstances,” Carmichael added. “This situation with immature hotheads with guns on the floor needs to end.”

TOPEKA — Newly disclosed videos show Topeka police shooting and killing a Black man in 2022 after he picked up a wrench and backed away from the officers in a gas station parking lot, contradicting the narrative authorities used to justify the officers’ actions.

The Topeka Police Department, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay have issued public statements that say police killed Taylor Lowery when he advanced toward them with a knife.

Da’Mabrius Duncan, as the mother of Lowery’s child and the administrator of his estate, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August and amended it this month to name Topeka police officers Malcolm Gillum, Justin Good and Bradley Netherton, Sgt. Scott McEntire, Detective Alex Wall and the city of Topeka as defendants. LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, an attorney and advocate for the family, provided officer body camera videos to Kansas Reflector at the family’s request after a federal magistrate rejected the city’s arguments to keep the videos confidential.

The videos show Good responding to a domestic disturbance call at Lowery’s residence at 12:38 a.m. Oct. 13, 2022. When Good and another officer confront Lowery, who is holding a butcher knife, Lowery runs from police, gets in an SUV and drives to a nearby Kwik Shop gas station. Good signals dispatch for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The video doesn’t show an assault.

Lowery drove to a Kwik Shop a half-mile from his house with McEntire and Wall in pursuit. According to the amended complaint, which is based in part on undisclosed surveillance video, Lowery approaches another vehicle in the parking lot while holding a knife and socket wrench. Wall signals dispatch for a carjacking.

McEntire and Wall, who weren’t wearing body cameras, exit their car with guns drawn and fire at Lowery as he runs from them, the amended complaint says. Lowery isn’t hit by the gunfire, but falls and drops both the knife and wrench as Good, Gillum and Netherton arrive.

The cameras worn by Good, Gillum and Netherton show McEntire shove Lowery, who reaches down to grab the wrench. As Lowery takes a step back with the wrench in his hand, the officers shoot at him 34 times.

Video from body cameras worn by Topeka police officers Justin Good, Malcolm Gillum and Bradley Netherton show Good responding to a domestic disturbance call at a residence, officers killing Taylor Lowery in a gas station parking lot, and police actions after the shooting.

An autopsy report documented 41 bullet wounds, including instances where a single bullet caused multiple injuries.

Moments after the gunfire ends, officers tell Lowery, who is motionless on the ground, they will administer medical aid if he lets go of the wrench. The videos capture conversations among the officers that make it clear they knew he was holding a wrench when they killed him.

The Topeka Police Department and Kansas Bureau of Investigation issued news releases on the day of the shooting that said Lowery threatened officers with a knife.

The officers “gave repeated commands to drop the knife,” KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood wrote in a news release. “Lowery then advanced toward officers holding the knife.”

The videos don’t support Underwood’s news release.

“In officer-involved shooting investigations, we strive to provide as much information as we can to the public as quickly as possible,” Underwood said in response to questions for this story. “Transparently providing preliminary details based on eyewitness statements is not ‘pushing a false narrative,’ even if once the full investigation concludes, additional or differing facts become known.”

The KBI investigated the killing, with future KBI director Tony Mattivi serving as legal counsel for Gillum as agents questioned the officer. The KBI concluded its investigation and presented the case file to Kagay, the district attorney, on Nov. 16, a month before Attorney General-elect Kris Kobach announced he would nominate Mattivi to lead the KBI.

Kagay produced a report clearing the officers in January 2023. Kagay’s report emphasizes that police first fired at Lowery while he was holding a knife, before the three officers who were wearing cameras arrived.

But the videos show Lowery wasn’t shot before he picked up the wrench.

Kagay’s report says “it is objectively reasonable that the officers mistook the wrench for the knife” when they killed him.

Kagay, responding to questions for this story, said his report “is a thorough and accurate summary of the investigative file.” He said civilian witness statements, which haven’t been made public, corroborate the narrative in his report.

Lauren Bonds, executive director of the

National Police Accountability Project, said law enforcement agencies are culturally predisposed to create a narrative that justifies a shooting, and that it was “disappointing that the district attorney in this situation is trying to retroactively justify the false police narrative.”

Bonds referenced high-profile police killings of Tyre Nichols in 2023 in Tennessee, George Floyd in 2020 in Minnesota, and Walter Scott in 2015 in South Carolina as examples where initial police department statements did not match what happened in the video.

“You have so many examples of these discrepancies coming out, or flat out lies coming out, around a police killing, why would you expect the community to trust anything the police say when there is an officer-involved shooting going forward?” Bonds said.

Duncan, the administrator of Lowery’s estate, said in an interview that it was important for the public to see the video of Lowery’s death and know the truth.

Duncan said she asked the Topeka Police Department for a meeting after the shooting, but the department declined to meet with her. If she could talk to the officers who killed Lowery, she said, she would ask them a lot of questions that begin with: “Why?”

“Why didn’t they handle the situation better than they did?” she said. “Just why? Why do they lie? Why did they use my child’s father as a target practice? Why should I have my trust in you guys when you guys can’t even tell the truth?”

“There’s been situations where we needed to call the police, but, you know, I just don’t trust them,” Duncan added. “I don’t see them the same. I don’t feel that I’m protected.”

Rosie Nichols, a spokeswoman for Topeka, declined to answer questions for this story, including a question about the refusal to meet with Duncan. Nichols said the city would respond to allegations “through the appropriate legal process, not through the media.”

“Law enforcement officers face dangerous and unpredictable situations every day, risking their lives and mental well-being to provide safety and protection to our community,” Nichols said. “We will continue to vigorously defend our officers in this matter.”

The release of police video from officer-involved shootings is rare in Kansas. Agencies routinely cite exemptions in the Kansas Open Records Act to deny the release of the video.

Duncan’s attorneys filed a request for video and other records with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which denied the request. The KBI’s response said the records are considered part of a criminal investigation.

Topeka city attorney Amanda Stanley declined an open records request for the videos from Kansas Reflector. She claimed the release of videos would prejudice a jury pool and prevent officers from receiving a fair trial.

“It would be improper and potentially unethical to release the videos, which may be used in a manner that would undermine the legitimacy of the case by litigating this matter in the court of public opinion,” Stanley wrote.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Angel Mitchell had already rejected a nearly identical argument from the city in the litigation Stanley referenced.

After Duncan filed the federal lawsuit, the city was required to turn over evidence through a legal process known as “discovery.” That evidence is often kept under a protective order, meaning attorneys can’t share the files with the public. But Duncan’s attorneys at the Denning Law Firm in Overland Park asked the court for permission to make the videos public.

The city argued that police video should be kept secret because the plaintiffs intended to use the video to “publicly rebut” the district attorney’s report exonerating the officers.

The magistrate referenced arguments made by attorney William Denning in a December ruling authorizing the release of police video: “Plaintiffs respond that their counsel ‘has no intention of litigating this matter in the court of public opinion.’ Yet they insist defendants should not be permitted to ‘enjoy the fruits’ of public disclosure of selected facts and still shots by the KBI and DA, while ‘tying Plaintiff’s [sic] hands with a protective order covering the very sources of information that were used to publicly exonerate Defendants.’ ”

Mitchell determined the city and police officers couldn’t show how they would be harmed by the release of the video. The only concern the judge recognized was the need to protect contact information and birthdates for witnesses who were interviewed on camera, and to exclude images of minors.

“Defendants do not explain their theory that release of any other part of the footage could taint the jury pool,” Mitchell wrote. “In other words, defendants do not state what, if any, other portions of the video footage could cause a jury to view them in a negative light. Moreover, to the extent officer bodycam footage is at issue, courts tend to exclude such footage from protective orders based on the public’s strong interest in transparency of public incidents.”

The videos capture the five-minute span between Good knocking on Lowery’s door and the moment police kill him outside the Kwik Shop, as well as discussion among officers after the shooting.

When the gunfire ends, officers yell at Lowery to “get your hands down” as he bleeds out on the ground.

“We need you to put your hands out and let go of that wrench and then we can help you,” an officer shouts two minutes after the shooting, as Lowery lies motionless. “We want to help you, but you got to let go of the wrench and do what we say.”

One of the officers says: “We have the numbers. He’s got a wrench.”

Three minutes after the shooting, a commanding officer gives orders to others who are about to approach Lowery.

“He’s got an object in his hand. It looks like a socket wrench, alright?” the officer says. “We’re gonna get control of him. If he does anything but comply, we’re gonna light him up with the Taser. Do you understand?”

Four officers then approach Lowery, three with weapons drawn and one leading a dog. One of them kicks the wrench out of Lowery’s still hand.

Officers provide medical aid about five minutes after the shooting.

An officer approaches Netherton and asks: “What’s the quick skinny?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Netherton says. “They were saying he was carjacking people when I pulled up. He started attacking Scottie Mac. That’s where we’re at.”

TOPEKA — House Speaker Dan Hawkins for the first time Thursday provided a public explanation for his decision to remove journalists from the House floor except to take photos from the back and side walls of the chamber.

Hawkins broke from decades of precedent before the start of the session by banning reporters from a press box area where they could take notes and photos, interact with staff and write their stories. When his aide informed Statehouse reporters of the new press restrictions, she described them as “significant changes.”

But Hawkins and his staff have downplayed the new restrictions, emphasizing that journalists can still take photos while ignoring the impact the restrictions have on reporting.

During debate Thursday over an array of new House rules, Hawkins said he implemented the new restrictions to give his staff a better place to sit. Previously, staff sat on a bench in front of the press box. He gestured to the former press box areas, which was filled with staff after being mostly empty for the first week of the session.

He also gestured to two journalists, including the author of this story, who were taking photos from the back of the chamber.

“Never did I ban the press from the body,” Hawkins said. “Matter of fact, we got two right back taking pictures of me right now. One right over there, and one right over there. So if they’ve been banned from the House floor, what are they doing on the floor? Why are they here?”

Hawkins said he had replied to inquiries about the rule change with a photo of this author that he took during a session last week.

“If I banned the press, what is that man doing on my floor?” Hawkins said.

Hawkins’ remarks were in response to an amendment proposed by Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, that would have restored longstanding press access to the House rules.

“I got a deal for you,” Haskins said. “You add nine words, we’re going to save millions of dollars for the state of Kansas.”

Haskins referenced the 2023 raid on the Marion County Record newspaper and said it was time to to stop raiding the free press. He argued that reporters can better inform the public with full access to the House floor and urged legislators to embrace transparency.

“We can’t forget that the state is only as strong as the individuals that we represent,” Haskins said. “I give you this opportunity to add nine words so we could save millions of dollars in taxpayer dollars when we get sued, because we are violating the First Amendment. This should not be something that we even debate.”

The First Amendment prohibits the government from making content-based decisions. A legal challenge to the rules would draw a correlation between the new restrictions and Hawkins’ prolific record of disparaging the press.

Republicans defeated the amendment with a thunderous “no” on a voice vote, and by a recorded 87-35 vote.

Republicans also rejected amendments brought by two of their own — Hutchinson Republican Rep. Paul Waggoner, who asked that Kansas join 48 other states in recording committee votes, and Paola Republican Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall, who tried to reinstate a rule that bans the House from debating legislation between midnight and 8 a.m.

GOP leaders in both the Senate and House typically wait until the final days of the session to pass a torrent of legislation under maximum pressure, often working late into the night as the try to force holdouts to vote in favor of unvetted bundles of bills. The House installed the “midnight rule” to prohibit late-night debates after former Rep. Bob Bethell, a Republican from Alden, died while driving on his way home in the early morning hours in 2012.

In recent years, the House routinely voted to suspend the “midnight rule” in the final days of the session. The rule was eliminated from this year’s rule package.

Poetter Parshall said she is typically up at midnight working on dishes or laundry because she has children ages 1, 2 and 9. But she said debating bills after midnight is more complicated.

“I did a little research,” Poetter Parshall said. “After midnight, people have impaired brain function, increased risk of disease, a weakened immune system, mental health issues, and an increased appetite. And most importantly, no meaningful debate on legislation tends to occur after midnight.”

Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said it was irresponsible to conduct business after midnight. Most constituents would fire legislators if they realized how impaired they are late at night at the end of the session.

Carmichael said he angered his wife several years ago when he inadvertently cast the wrong vote after a late-night debate.

“I attribute it to lack of sleep, fatigue, and get-out-of-here-itis,” Carmichael said.

The House rejected Poetter Parshall’s amendment on an 82-41 vote.

The House rejected Waggoner’s attempt to record committee votes by a 73-49 margin.

TOPEKA — Public school advocates are asking lawmakers to proceed with caution as they consider slashing the statewide property tax that directly funds public education.

Legislation in the House would lower the state rate from 20 to 18.5 mills in the next fiscal year, which starts June 1, and then freeze the annual tax collections at the current level for future years. The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates the impact would be $823.6 million over five years, assuming property values grow by 5% each year from 2026 to 2030.

Debate Wednesday in the House Taxation Committee centered on concerns that the Legislature would return to a familiar pattern of lowering tax collections to the point that lawmakers eventually would cut public school funding and instigate another legal battle.

The Kansas Supreme Court has repeatedly forced the Legislature to abide by a constitutional mandate to adequately and equitably fund public schools. Last year, the Supreme Court released jurisdiction over the most recent case, elevating fears by public schools that the Legislature could again pull the rug out from under them.

Republicans on the House committee said that isn’t the goal of House Bill 2011, but they stopped short of agreeing to include language that would require transfers from the State General Fund to ensure schools would retain full funding. Without the transfer, the base state aid would be lowered by $100 and $169 per pupil in the next two years.

“Seems like the courts have taken over appropriation for schools, and the Legislature surrendered that to them,” said Rep. Francis Awerkamp, R-St. Marys. “So whatever the courts tell the Legislature we need to pay schools, we’re going to pay schools.”

Tim Graham, with the Kansas National Education Association, said public schools have been shorted in the past when the Legislature adopted aggressive tax cuts.

“You know the court has given up jurisdiction to this case, and quite frankly, we have a lot of anxiety of what’s happened in the past 24-25 years with school funding,” Graham told Awerkamp.

After five seconds of silence, Graham asked: “Are were in a staring contest?”

“No, we’re not,” Awerkamp said. “So you made the statement, the Legislature appropriates the dollars, we control the purse strings. Are you saying it’s wrong for the courts to tell the Legislature —”

“I’m not going to get into that,” Graham said.

Graham, school officials and public school advocates identified themselves as neutral on the bill while raising concerns about whether the state could afford such a large property tax cut.

Rep. Adam Smith, a Weskan Republican who chairs the committee, said the property tax relief would “basically” be subsidized by income and sales tax collections that go into the State General Fund, making it more difficult to lower those taxes in the future.

Lobbyists for business and agriculture groups testified in support of the legislation.

Dan Murray, of the National Federation of Independent Business, said the organization had surveyed members and found 88% supported lowering the state property tax rate.

“This is the top priority for our members,” Murray said. “I think you all heard this at the doorstep. Issue one, two and three were property tax relief. This fits in line.”

John Donley, of the Kansas Farm Bureau, said his organization wanted property tax relief last year, when GOP leaders favored income tax cuts instead. He said he was pleased the Legislature is “finally” looking at broad-based property tax relief.

The discussion appeared to confuse Rep. Clarke Sanders, a Salina Republican, because the bill refers to the property tax rate as “the rate of ad valorem tax.”

“You’re calling it property tax relief, which is what it seems to me, but yet, in the bill, it’s talking about ad valorem tax,” Clarke said as Donley appeared before the committee. “So could I get an explanation either from you, Mr. chair, from the conferee, about what the difference between, if any, between property tax and ad valorem tax?”

Donley: “ ’Ad valorem’ equals ‘property,’ I think, is the simplest way to explain it.”

Sanders: “Six to one, half a dozen the other?”

Donley: “Somebody liked Latin at some point in our history.”

TOPEKA — A Kansas House member was shoved to the floor at a Topeka bar during an argument between a Wichita City Council member and a Democratic state representative from Wichita who disagreed about plans to test Wichita residents potentially harmed by a toxic chemical spill in a historically Black neighborhood.

Rep. Henry Helgerson, an Eastborough Democrat attending an informal gathering adjacent to the Capitol, was knocked backward while attempting to intervene in the Wednesday night dispute between Democratic Rep. Ford Carr of Wichita and Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson.

Video of the disturbance showed Helgerson smashing into a table and breaking glassware after shoved by Carr. Helgerson was helped to his feet by two people. Helgerson again tried to restrain Carr, who continued the back-and-forth argument with Johnson at the reception for Wichita-area politicians.

“Ain’t nobody scared of your punk a--,” Johnson shouted in a two-minute video clip widely shared at the Statehouse.

“Bring it on,” replied Carr, still wearing his identification badge as a state legislator.

“No. No. No,” Helgerson said, while temporarily moving Carr away from Johnson. “You don’t want to hurt me, do you?”

At one point, Carr threw his suit jacket to the floor in anger. Several people went in and out of view on the video as they attempted to end the spat or stay clear of the primary combatants. Johnson eventually left the bar amid more shouting.

In an interview, Johnson said he was at the Celtic Fox, a bar across the street from the Statehouse in Topeka, when Carr confronted him about handling $2.5 million set aside by the 2024 Kansas Legislature and $125,000 allocated by City Hall to begin a testing program to learn more about extent of chemical contamination in a northeast Wichita neighborhood.

A chemical spill in the Union Pacific railyard decades ago apparently allowed cancer-causing trichloroethylene, or TCE, to infiltrate groundwater and spread for several miles. Wichita residents in path of the spill weren’t informed of possible health complications until 2022.

Johnson said he was eager to focus on important work of addressing health ramifications of the spill in Wichita. He said he was less interested in debating the bar feud.

“That event will be properly investigated. And the video and those present can speak to the specifics of what happened and by whom,” Johnson said. “I don’t want that incident to in any way distract from the genuine, positive efforts and progress we’re making for residents to address the vitally needed testing and remediation at the 29th and Grove neighborhoods.”

Carr, who advocated for state funding for testing during last year’s legislative session, said municipal government officials in Wichita hadn’t moved quickly enough to advance the initiative.

He said the Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission should have launched testing months ago. The required $1 million local match has yet to be secured, but the city and county appear to have found consensus on how to proceed.

Carr said the animated conversation at the bar was inspired by concern the state appropriation could be rescinded if the cash wasn’t spent before the fiscal year ended in June.

“They wanted me to give them an attaboy or a pat on the back for having this plan,” Carr said in an interview. “I told them I’m appreciative that they came up with a plan, but I’m not going to stand up and rejoice a plan that took eight months to develop. At that point, Brandon Johnson took it personally.”

Carr said he hadn’t consumed an intoxicating beverage, but indicated Johnson appeared to be drinking a dark ale.

“I’m not going to say he was inebriated. I’m just going to say that’s what he was drinking,” Carr said. “His voice began to get elevated. And, after his voice elevated, he made a physical gesture, put his finger in my face, and at that point I stood upright, so then he equally stands.”

Carr said he interpreted Johnson’s gesture at the bar as a threat.

“And I’ve always been the kind of person that you can start that trouble — I know how to finish it,” Carr said.

He said he didn’t realize in the moment that it was Helgerson who attempted to intervene. He said he regretted shoving Helgerson hard enough that he fell to the floor. He referred to Helgerson as a friend.

“I pushed Henry out of the way. Apparently, in the heat of passion, I’m a little stronger than I thought,” Carr said. “I can’t say that I regret moving him out of the way, but I just regret that he lost his balance and fell. It was never intended to be any harm to Rep. Helgerson.”

Helgerson, who was at the Capitol on Thursday, wasn’t available to comment on the incident.

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, declined to discuss the bar incident but issued a statement.

“We are taking this matter seriously and are committed to resolving it,” he said. “Our focus remains serving the people of Kansas and advancing policies that meet their needs.”

Special prosecutor Branden Bell filed the charges Monday in Neosho County District Court. The complaint accuses Thuston of lying during testimony in July, when Thuston appeared as a witness in an opioid drug case that Bell also prosecuted.

Shocking testimony in that case centered on evidence that Thuston, as the county’s top prosecutor, had leaked information about police investigations to an off-the-books confidential informant who had sent him nude photos.

Thuston for years avoided consequences from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office or the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys as local law enforcement and county officials provided evidence of financial and criminal misconduct.

The sheriff’s office found that Thuston through a social media account had persuaded about 50 women to send him nude images in exchange for services through his private legal practice. They included women he also prosecuted as the county attorney.

Sheriff’s officers filed reports obtained by Kansas Reflector that accused Thuston of using confidential information for personal gain, intimidating a witness or victim, disseminating a criminal history record, theft by deception, preventing reporting of victimization, and other felonies. Those crimes were reported between 2018 and 2023.

During the same time period, county commissioners complained that Thuston couldn’t document how he was using money collected from diversion agreements, which had skyrocketed after Thuston took office in 2012. The current and former sheriff feared justice was for sale as Thuston traded high-dollar diversion payments for generous plea deals covering violent crimes, including child rape.

In 2022, a disciplinary panel decided not to punish Thuston for a conflict of interest ethics violation after reviewing letters of support from the community, including one from county health director Teresa Starr. Thuston admitted in a recorded interview with Kansas Reflector that he had written Starr’s letter, and she said Thuston threatened her to go along with it.

In April of this year, the Disciplinary Administrator’s Office issued “an informal admonition” to Thuston for telling Starr she “owed” him oral sex.

Thuston was still the county attorney in July when he was called to testify in a preliminary hearing for an opioid drug case. Police had uncovered Facebook messages from a woman who said Thuston “tells me everything cause he wants me.” She had relayed information from Thuston to her brother, a defendant in the drug case, about houses that were under police surveillance, and the name of a “nark” who was talking to police.

During combative hourlong testimony, Thuston defended his practice of meeting regularly with off-the-books confidential informants, sometimes at his home or in other discreet places, as he had done with the woman in this case. He also acknowledged that he had received nude photos from her.

At the end of his testimony, the special prosecutor asked Thuston: “Are you familiar that lying to an investigator, law enforcement officer, about a felony offense is in itself a felony?”

Thuston’s response: “It can be.”

Kansas Reflector has asked the court to release a charging affidavit to shed light on the evidence supporting the six felonies Thuston now faces — four charges of perjury and two charges of witness intimidation.

The special prosecutor’s case is separate from Kansas Attorney General’s Office investigations that resulted in two misdemeanor convictions.

In an unusual sequence of events in August, after Thuston could retire with full benefits, the AG’s office reached a plea deal with him before filing misdemeanor charges. In exchange for stepping down and pleading guilty to the two misdemeanors, the office agreed not to pursue more serious charges for other crimes it had investigated. Retired District Judge Merlin Wheeler ordered Thuston to serve 30 days in jail, followed by 12 months of supervised release.

Danedri Herbert, spokeswoman for the AG’s office, didn’t respond to an inquiry about the decision not to pursue more serious charges.

Jim Keath, who served as Neosho County sheriff for more than 20 years, welcomed the special prosecutor’s decision to charge Thuston with felony crimes. Keath left the sheriff’s office in 2020 because he was frustrated with Thuston.

“I just have to tell you, in all my years in law enforcement, there was 30-some of them, I never saw a defendant get called to the Attorney General’s Office to negotiate their deal before charges are ever filed,” Keath said. “I don’t know how you explain that. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of, and I do not understand it at all.”

Keath said the decision wasn’t about fairness or justice.

“I can’t help but think about all the victims over the years, those 50 ladies, just all the victims in general, all the different crimes that weren’t prosecuted or just thrown away for a few bucks in an account,” he added.

MARION — Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody returned Monday to the town where he raided a newspaper to face a dozen journalists along with a felony charge for his actions after the raid.

Cody led police in the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the editor’s home and a councilwoman’s home under the false pretense that a newspaper reporter had committed identity theft by looking up restaurateur Kari Newell’s driving record. Special prosecutors charged Cody with one count of interference with the judicial process, a low-level felony, for asking Newell after the raid to delete text messages between the two. Cody told her he was concerned their relationship would be misinterpreted, according to court documents.

One year later, Cody is party to five federal civil lawsuits in addition to the criminal case.

Monday’s hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes, was Cody’s first public appearance in the town since he resigned as police chief amid intense scrutiny in October 2023. In a courtroom with an audience mostly of reporters, Cody was straight-faced and silent.

District Judge Ryan Rosauer rejected Cody’s motion to dismiss the charge for lack of probable cause.

Rosauer, prosecutors and Cody’s defense agreed that Cody won’t be required to appear in court for minor hearings and case proceedings, including the case’s next scheduled hearing on Dec. 16. Court filings show Cody is believed to be living in Hawaii.

Cody and Sal Intagliata, a Wichita attorney who is defending Cody, declined to answer reporters’ questions as they left the courthouse. Intagliata said the “full story” would come out as the case is litigated in court. Cody didn’t speak.

Intagliata, as he ushered Cody into a car, told reporters: “If I have any comment at all on behalf of Mr. Cody, it would be this: that the people of Marion County, really the most important people involved in this situation, take a minute to reserve judgment, take a moment to, like, avoid jumping to conclusions, and allow the system to work.”

Cody won’t be required to pay a cash bond. Instead, Rosauer ordered a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, which Cody only will have to pay if he fails to show up to court when required.

If convicted, Cody would face presumed probation

Following the hearing, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer answered questions from a dozen reporters who gathered outside the newspaper office across the street from the courthouse. They asked him to respond to Intagliata.

“We can take a delay of the justice system, as long as the delay actually results in proper assessment of things,” Meyer said. “We’re not in a hurry. He should have plenty of time to think about what he did.”

Meyer said Cody shouldn’t be the only one who is charged with a crime. Others, Meyer said, should have intervened — including other police officers, the sheriff, the county attorney, and the magistrate who signed the search warrants.

“Somewhere the system failed,” Meyer said. “These are the people who are supposed to protect our rights. They didn’t do it. That’s why I hate to see Gideon Cody be the fall guy for all this. Yes, he deserves a great deal of credit or blame for what went on in here, but there are others who were well aware of it.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and X.

TOPEKA — Kansas Reflector and other news outlets have asked a district judge to reject former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody’s attempt to banish cameras from court proceedings in his criminal case.

Cody, who led the raid on the Marion County Record last year, faces a low-level felony charge for telling a woman after the raid to delete text messages the two had exchanged. The woman told investigators she agreed to delete the texts because she didn’t want people who saw the messages to accuse the two of having an affair, according to evidence presented to the court earlier this month.

In a motion filed Tuesday in Marion County District Court, 14 news outlets argue Cody’s concern “that the presence of cameras in the courtroom will somehow prejudice a defendant’s right to a fair trial has long since been discredited.”

Lyndon Vix, a Wichita-based attorney, filed the motion on behalf of Kansas Reflector, the Marion County Record, Kansas City Star, Wichita Eagle, KCUR, Kansas City Beacon, Wichita Beacon, KAKE, KCTV, KMBC, KSHB, KSNW, KWCH and WDAF.

The court filing outlines the public interest in the criminal prosecution of Cody, stemming from his attempt to defy state and federal protections for journalists in the Aug. 11, 2023, raid. Photos and video are part of the reporting that serves the public interest in the case, the news outlets argue.

A Kansas Supreme Court rule provides news media with a right to take photos and video during court proceedings.

“The irony of this defendant seeking to limit media access in this case is striking,” Vix wrote in the court filing. “The genesis of the case was defendant’s decision to go to the war with a member of the media. Now, when he is called to at least partially account for his actions, he wants the media to have less access to his proceedings than they would have in any other defendant’s case. If there was ever a defendant who was not entitled to special consideration in this regard, it is Gideon Cody.”

Cody is scheduled for a first appearance Oct. 7 before District Judge Ryan Rosauer. KSNW on Aug. 13 asked the court’s media coordinator to bring cameras and recording equipment into the courtroom. Cody’s attorneys objected to the request in an Aug. 20 court filing.

Cody argued that the presence of cameras would violate his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.

But, Vix wrote in his response Tuesday, there is no known case in Kansas “in which an appellate court has concluded that a criminal defendant failed to receive a fair trial because of publicity alone, even though the contention has been frequently advanced.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and X.