'I Finally Know Who I Am' Former Kenosha News Editor Says

KENOSHA, WI — The instant Daniel Thompson, a digital editor at the Kenosha news, heard one quote from the end of Saturday's Justice for Jacob rally in Downtown Kenosha, an ominous feeling washed over him.

Thompson said he took vacation time Saturday to attend the peaceful rally. It featured the family of Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old Black man who was shot several times by a white Kenosha police officer.

The rally's speakers included Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Congressman Gwen Moore, a raft of supporters and national organizers and more than a thousand attendees.

During the course of the rally, speakers spoke of the need to push for social and criminal justice reforms for Black people; the importance of getting out the Black vote in November; and heartfelt messages and poetry for the Blake family and the Black community.

"I'm glad I went," Thompson told Patch. "It was beautiful to me. There was no violence, or any talk of violence."

The rally was a breath of fresh air for Thompson, who, with his camera, video recorder and reporter's eye, spent the preceding week documenting shattered buildings, and a traumatized community following the police shooting of Jacob Blake and subsequent shooting death of two demonstrators.

Near the end of the rally, a speaker uttered the 15 words that would end up sending Daniel on a journey that has now reached across the U.S. and around the world.

"It was such a small moment," Daniel said. "To any person attending that event, it wasn't even on my mind. You could tell people were thinking 'that person was not supposed to say that.'"

That's when a speaker barked the words, "If you kill one of us, it's time for us to kill one of yours."

Thompson knew right away what might happen next.

"When I heard that one quote, I thought, 'that's going to get clicks, somebody is going to capitalize,'" Thompson told Patch. "I didn't think it would be the local paper."

Headline Woes

Daniel said he went back home after the rally, sat down on his sofa and passed the time looking through his Facebook news feed when he saw a friend of his comment on a Kenosha News article.
Then he saw the article and its headline: "WATCH NOW: Kenosha Speaker: 'If you kill one of us, it's time for us to kill one of yours.'"

"This is a story about the same event I was just at. I got livid," Daniel said.

Thompson said he messaged Kenosha News Executive Editor Bob Heisse to strongly express that the headline needed to be changed.

According to a text message exchange from Saturday that Thompson posted on Facebook, Heisse at the paper urged him to "calm down" citing the quote as a "threat and an exact quote" that was “at a rally that was to that point totally on message.”

Daniel said Heisse refused to change the headline, and Thompson later resigned, saying the headline did not reflect the otherwise peaceful message from Saturday's rally.

"I am not going to act like I'm standing for what they did after I just got done standing with the Blake family," Daniel told Patch.

The headline was changed after Daniel texted his resignation to the paper.

Daniel said he wants the person who wrote the headline to resign. "I want this person to apologize to Blake family, to the Kenosha News staff, and publicly resign. And then, I'm done," he told Patch. "If we have a reckless journalist in our area, they are going to keep doing this. We cannot allow them to continue to do this during this time."

The World Responds

News of Daniel's resignation spread quickly after he posted about it on Facebook later that Saturday.

He's been featured previously here on Patch, was interviewed by the The Journal Sentinel, The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune just to list a few. Thompson's story has also reached new continents.

During the course of Daniel's interview with Patch, a news outlet from New Zealand called requesting an interview. Daniel got back to us after the New Zealand call as a courtesy.

People Reach Out

Daniel set up, "Invest in new Kenosha media" on GoFundMe, as a way to help bridge his unemployment following his resignation.

"Since I resigned from the Kenosha News, many people have asked what I plan on doing next," Thompson wrote on the GoFundMe campaign. "I'm asking for some assistance during this time to the tune of $5,000. I figure that's what I need to have two months free to develop and launch new projects while being able to cover my bills, pay for medications, etc."

Donors blew away Daniel's fundraising goal, giving more than $27,000 in 48 hours.

Thompson said he needs some money to get through, but not this much. "I took a leap of faith on the community, and they caught me. I plan to donate half back to Uptown so they can help rebuild."

'I've Always Walked In Both Worlds'

Daniel, whose mother is white and father is Black, said growing up biracial has been a struggle.

"I've always walked in both worlds, and I've never really felt a part of either of them," Daniel told Patch. "Who will claim you and who won't — that's been the story of my life. Race has always been a point of heaviness in my life because of my duality."

Barely a week ago, Daniel was filing stories, editing and filling in the gaps in an understaffed Midwestern daily newsroom.

He spent the last week covering the emotional traumas associated with the police shooting that has left Blake temporarily paralyzed in a hospital bed. He's covered the fires and the damage in Kenosha. He's heard the cries for social change and justice for Jacob.

And he's received encouragement from the Blake family to add his voice to the calls for justice and social reform.

Today, Daniel Thompson, former Digital Editor for the Kenosha News, stands on a much larger stage.

"I finally know who I am, what I stand for and what I want to do," he said.