Missouri Newspaper Editor Steps Down After Publishing Racist Cartoon

The editor and publisher of a Missouri newspaper has stepped down after publishing a racist cartoon. The cartoon in Washington’s Missourian depicted a black man in a mask stealing a white woman’s purse. “Good luck with that lady,” the masked man says in the cartoon. “We defunded the police.” The editor, William Miller Sr., apologized Wednesday, saying running the cartoon was “poor judgement” and that it was intended to show the editorial position that defunding the police is not the answer. Missourian co-owners and editors Susan Miller Warden and Jeanne Miller Wood, who are also Miller’s daughters, also issued apologies and stepped down from their positions. Trisha Miller O’Donnell, a third Miller daughter, took over as interim publisher and editor on Thursday. Miller said the paper will no longer publish work from the artist who drew the racist cartoon.