Stacy Washington, conservative black woman and proud NRA supporter, is no stranger to gun owners and conservatives. Personally, she’s been a friend of mine for years, has contributed to our Bearing Arms Against Domestic Violence Campaign, is a contributor on our sister site Townhall.com, and has been a fellow guest on many episodes of Cam&Co.

Now, she’s under attack.

After Washington’s latest column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch titled “Guns in the Media” was published April 28th, it swiftly earned her a response she never saw coming: a suspension from the iconic news outlet.

“It’s understandable that we seek out opinions and news that support our viewpoint,” Washington wrote in the so-called controversial column. “Confirmation bias is a very real part of how people consume news and media. However, we should be appalled to see neighbors with whom we work, attend church, people who have children defending this country through military service — in other words, good decent people — portrayed in the same light as demonic murderers for the simple act of owning a firearm.”

Just hours after her article was published, Washington said she received an email from Tod Robberson, the editorial page’s director, informing her of the suspension.

“You did not disclose in your column published today that you served multiple times as a co-host and commentator on Cam & Company on NRA TV,” Robberson said in his email. He also stated that while her popular column had been “problematic in many ways”, it was her work with the NRA that he considered an unforgivable ‘ethical breach’.

“Advocating for the NRA while failing to disclose that you did media work on this lobbying organization and its television station goes far beyond the bounds of any acceptable journalistic standard,” Robberson’s email stated.

Not only does Washington clearly state on her own website that she “appears regularly on Cam & Company on NRA News”, in August 2016, Post-Dispatch journalist Joe Holleman wrote an article detailing how Washington was being featured in an NRA documentary.

“I’m a second amendment supporter, it is known to people at the Post-Dispatch that I am a supporter of the NRA, I’ve never hidden it,” Washington told the Riverfront Times, further clarifying that although she has co-hosted the NRA News program Cam&Co and is a well-known advocate of the organization, “I was never paid by the NRA.”

Despite all the facts and documentation, the paper doubled down on Washington by choosing to publish a Letter to the Editor Monday accusing her of being ‘a shill for the NRA’. In part, the ignorant rant declared:

Stacy Washington’s column “Guns and the media” (April 28) is probably one of the finest examples I have ever seen of what a shill does. To use the basis that the media is biased against gun owners as a means to promote the National Rifle Association is genius, and deceitful. Shame on her for not disclosing her close relationship with the organization and the fact that she has done media work for it. Is she willing to state whether she has received any remuneration or gratuity from the NRA?