Vermont newspaper apologizes for ‘Whatever happens in Vegas’ cartoon in wake of mass shooting

A newspaper in Vermont apologized Tuesday for printing a cartoon depicting the aftermath of the of the Las Vegas massacre that showed a pile of bodies and the words “Whatever happens in Vegas…”

The Bennington Banner apologized “for the grievous error” of running the cartoon just days after Stephen Paddock slaughtered at least 58 people at an outdoor music festival and injured just under 500 others on Sunday in Las Vegas.

“On Tuesday, the Banner published a cartoon that many people, including me, found to be insulting and in bad taste. We regret and apologize for publishing the cartoon,” Fredric Rutberg, president of the newspaper, said in a statement. “The decision to publish was made in haste. We are addressing the matter internally.”

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The cartoon shows stick figures piled on top of one another, with a caption that is a play on Las Vegas’ tourism campaign ‘What happens here, stays here.”

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“The gravity of our error in judgment was magnified by the fact that one of victims of the unspeakable horror was a native of Dorset, whose family and friends must have been particularly offended by this cartoon,” Rutberg said in a statement.

Sandy Casey was killed Sunday when Paddock opened fire from a sniper’s nest perched 32 floors above the Las Vegas Strip and rained gunfire down onto the music festival. The 35-year-old was a Vermont native who was a middle school special education teacher living in California.

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“As the president of the company, the responsibility for the grievous error is mine, and I apologize to the entire Bennington community that the Banner was so insensitive,” Rutberg said.

The newspaper also apologized on social media, saying it wasn’t “the right time or the right place to publish the cartoon.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Sandy Casey, originally from East Dorset, Vermont, who are enduring grief beyond compare today. We apologize to them and others affected,” Kevin Moran, executive editor of New England Newspapers Inc.,” said in a Facebook statement. “Our interpretation of Randall Enos’ cartoon was that little would be done with regard to gun control measures in the United States even after such an unprecedented tragedy.

“While we believe that is a conversation that needs to happen in this country, we must first mourn and honour the victims and provide comfort to their families and friends,” Moran said.

Many Facebook users lashed out saying the apology was “nowhere near acceptable.”

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“’Gun control’? Are you kidding me? Sixty dead, nearly six hundred injured, and all you guys can think about is politics? This apology is nowhere near acceptable,” Sam Benavidez wrote.

“Pathetic attempt to save face. You all should be ashamed and fired. The apology means nothing to our small town a total slap in the face. The editors have no class!” Jamie Penge commented.

Sunday’s rampage was the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.