Kenosha News Editor Resigns Over 'Damaging' Jacob Blake Headline

KENOSHA, WI — An editor at the Kenosha News says he resigned over the weekend following a dispute with a headline that appeared online Saturday on one of his stories posted on the Kenosha News website.

Digital Editor Daniel Thompson attended Saturday afternoon's #JusticeFor Jacob rally during his off hours. The rally was held in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse.

The rally featured the family of Jacob Blake and local supporters. Speakers included Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Congressman Gwen More, Tim Mahone, Chairman of the Mahone Fund, local activist Ma’kia Hughes and national organizer Dijuan Wash.

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.

Near the end of the rally, one of the speakers, who was not identified in the Kenosha News story, reportedly deviated from the rally's overall theme, saying, "If you kill one of us, it's time for us to kill one of yours."

When Thompson saw the newspaper's story about the rally he attended, he became upset when he learned of its headline.

In a screenshot Thompson posted, the headline read, "WATCH NOW: Kenosha Speaker: 'If you kill one of us, it's time for us to kill one of yours.'"

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 "totally on message with the rally."

Thompson later resigned, saying the headline did not reflect the otherwise peaceful message from Saturday's rally.

"I have officially resigned from the Kenosha News effective immediately because of this headline and response from my boss," Thompson wrote. "I can stand for being unemployed. I cannot stand for this."

Thompson summarized his thoughts in a Facebook live video posted over the weekend.

"Today is not my day, I did what I did because today is about Jacob Blake and his family, it's about moving forward together peacefully and I saw that today," Thompson said in a video he posted on Facebook over the weekend. "And that headline did not reflect it. And when they refused to change it, I quit."

Later that evening, the article's headline was changed to "WATCH NOW: Kenosha speaker strays from message at rally."

Thompson saw the change, and replied on Facebook, "I hear the headline’s been changed. Wow. Only took me quitting."

Patch has reached out to Lee Enterprises, owner of the Kenosha News, for comment. Patch has also reached out to Thompson for additional comment.

Blake Shot By Police

Blake, 29, was shot several times by Kenosha police Sunday during the course of a domestic dispute on the city's north side.

A witness to the shooting recorded the incident on video. In that video, police are seen following Blake around his SUV, grabbing him by the shirt, and opening fire on him several times as he enters his car while his children were apparently seated inside.

Blake survived the shooting. The video of Blake's shooting has gone viral, and Kenosha has seen widespread protests ever since.

Public officials of all kinds have weighed in on the shooting, some calling for immediate punishment for the officer who pulled the trigger, others for police and social reforms, and others who are calling for a playing-out of the police investigation into the shooting.

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