The managing editor of the Wasilla, Alaska, newspaper who editorialized against Author Joe McGinniss moving next door to Sarah Palin to work on a book about her, and cited a law allowing deadly force to protect her property, has been fired.

Alaska Dispatch reports: “As screaming heads and snarky blogs across the country weighed in, Palin's hometown paper, The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, ran an editorial on May 29 that reminded McGinniss that 'Alaska has a law that allows the use of deadly force in protection of life and property.'

“It was a throwaway line at the end of an otherwise forgettable editorial, but those 34 words touched off a media firestorm. Tom Mitchell, the Frontiersman managing editor who wrote the editorial, apologized, saying he didn't mean that McGinniss should be a victim of violence, and the Frontiersman's publisher suspended comments on the editorial after 428 postings, which ranged from 'Great piece' to 'Cancel my subscription.'”

But, the Dispatch also noted, “on June 14 -- two weeks after the infamous editorial had circled the globe -- Frontiersman's publisher Kari Sleight sent out a terse e-mail: 'Tom 'TC' Mitchell has resigned his position at the Frontiersman to pursue other efforts. His resignation is effective immediately. We wish Tom well in his future endeavors.'”