Capital Gazette Puts ‘Damn Paper’ Out Hours After Newsroom Attack

Annapolis, Maryland’s Capital Gazette released its front page overnight, fulfilling a vow to publish the newspaper despite the Thursday afternoon attack on its offices that killed four journalists and a sales assistant. “Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow,” the paper’s account tweeted just after midnight Friday, making good on a promise made by one of the paper’s reporters earlier in the day. The headline reads “Five Shot Dead at The Capital” and shows pictures of each of the five staffers who were killed in the attack, alongside a picture of the crime scene. The report contains a quote from Editor Rick Hutzell, who said: “We are heartbroken, devastated. Our colleagues and friends are gone. No matter how deep our loss is, nothing compares to the grief our friends’ families are feeling.” The paper also posted a blank opinion page Friday, saying in a tweet: “Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them. But today, we are speechless.”