WASHINGTON, Missouri (KSDK) — The owners of "The Missourian" newspaper issued an apology Wednesday after a racist cartoon was published in its paper.
The cartoon shows a white woman being robbed by a black man and saying, "Help!! Somebody call 911!"
With his hands on the woman's arm and her purse, the man responds, "Good luck with that, lady ... we defunded the police."
The co-owners of of the newspaper, Susan Miller Warden and Jeanne Miller Wood, posted this message on the website Wednesday morning:
"On behalf of all of our employees at The Missourian we are sorry and DISGUSTED for the editorial cartoon that appears in the Wednesday, June 10 edition of the Missourian.
This does not represent the views of The Missourian staff.
This was selected by the Editor/ Publisher, Bill Miller Sr.
BLACK LIVES MATTER"
Hours later, the owners posted another update, saying they have decided to resign.
The cartoonist Tom Stiglich sent the following statement to 5 On Your Side:
"Thanks for writing and for giving me the opportunity to respond. First and foremost, may George Floyd rest in peace. he did not deserve to die like that. I do not condone racism or police brutality of any kind. It's such a hostile environment we're living in right now, one that needs more law and order, not less. The rioting and looting was extremely disheartening. That cartoon was based solely on violent crime numbers here in the US. To ignore that would be doing a disservice to the reader. Best wishes, Tom"
