Paper No Longer Employs Columnist Who Called Michael Brown An ‘Animal’

The columnist who called Michael Brown an “animal” who had to be put down on his personal blog has parted ways with the Charleston Daily Mail.

The paper’s editor, Brad McElhinny, wrote in a blog post on Thursday that columnist Don Surber is no longer employed by the Charleston Daily Mail.

“It’s the kind of conservative that believes in the power of the individual. That is, each individual has the possibility to flourish, succeed and prosper,” McElhinny wrote. “That’s why it was so disheartening to see the careless words of one of our own editorial writers describing a young man whose life ended tragically too soon.”

McElhinny said that even though Surber wrote the controversial post about Brown on his own blog, his name is still associated with the newspaper.

“He selected words that were unfortunate, inflammatory and, in our view, inexcusable,” McElhinny wrote. “It’s his own blog, but still, he’s known as a Daily Mail editorial columnist and many readers seemed to perceive the views stated to reflect on the Daily Mail’s editorial policy.”

The paper did not say whether Surber was asked to leave, or if he made the decision to go.

“As of this week, Mr. Surber is no longer employed by the Daily Mail,” McElhinny wrote. “We thank him for his service and we wish Mr. Surber good luck.”