He was let go soon after he wrote a veiled threat directed at an author living next to Sarah Palin, The Wasilla, Alaska, newspaper managing editor has said.

It has been reported that in a May 29 editorial in The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Tom Mitchell told author Joe McGinniss, who is renting the house next door to the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee's family home as he writes a book about her, that "Alaska has a law that allows the use of deadly force in protection of life and property."

Alaska Dispatch reported on Monday that those words created a firestorm around an already hot topic, the online magazine. Mitchell apologized, saying he didn't mean any harm should befall McGinniss and the Frontiersman suspended comments on the editorial after 428 postings.

Two weeks after the editorial was published, Frontiersman Publisher Kari Sleight said in an 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."

Mitchell told the Alaska Dispatch he was surprised by the move, saying the editorial wasn't discussed in his final meeting with Sleight. But, he said, "It doesn't mean that she or others in the corporation didn't factor that in."

The editorial didn't play a role in the decision to let Mitchell go, said Sleight. But when pressed about why he left, the publisher told the online magazine, "I don't think that's anything I need to discuss with you." (With Inputs from Agencies)