KENOSHA, Wis. — You would think a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel employee who calls herself a journalist might find it newsworthy that a Milwaukee judge released a man accused of battering a police officer while armed with a knife on no-cash bail, and that the same defendant later walked away from Milwaukee County Drug Treatment Court with a $50 gift card.

That man, Adam Scott Threlkeld, 45, later surfaced in Kenosha, where police say he fatally shot a man inside a tavern and then ambushed two responding Kenosha police officers with gunfire.

But apparently Milwaukee has been picked clean of stories.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “reporter” Quinn Clark (D) has instead continued a more than year-long examination of Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis and Kenosha County Eye Editor Kevin Mathewson, contacting multiple people and seeking communications and information concerning the two men.

Clark, whom Mathewson describes as a “racist, far-left liberal political activist disguised as a journalist,” has written numerous articles critical of Solis and his administration.

Solis became the first Republican elected Kenosha County District Attorney in roughly a century when he took office in January 2025.

Clark Has Been Digging Into Mathewson And Solis For More Than A Year
In January, KCE reported that Clark had sought communications between Solis and Mathewson while digging into the newly elected Republican district attorney. Her interest in communications and interactions between the two therefore predates her latest inquiry by more than a year.

Since then, Clark has written numerous articles critical of Solis and his administration.

On Monday, Clark emailed Mathewson and said she wanted to speak with him about his “relationship with the DA’s office.” Mathewson declined the telephone interview and responded to Clark in writing, doubting she will use any part of it.

Clark’s inquiries haven’t been limited to Mathewson. Mathewson has been told about, and has personally reviewed, emails and text messages Clark sent to multiple other people in which she inquired about Mathewson and Solis.

For Mathewson, that continuing inquiry raises a fairly simple question: what exactly is Clark looking for?

So What Is Mathewson’s Relationship With Solis?
Mathewson and Solis are friendly with each other. Before Solis became district attorney, the two briefly rented space in the same office building for several months.

In 2023, Mathewson was pursuing a civil defamation lawsuit and needed an attorney on short notice to take the matter to trial. Solis agreed to represent him and helped him prevail.

Mathewson and Solis have no familial relationship and no financial relationship whatsoever.

Judge Chad Kerkman has pushed the claim that Mathewson was somehow Solis’ “biggest donor.” That isn’t true. Elizabeth Uihlein, for example, contributed $2,000 in actual money to Solis’ campaign. Mathewson gave Solis not one penny. Instead, KCE provided free advertising, something Mathewson has done for many candidates. The advertising did not cost Mathewson a cent, but its fair-market value had to be reported as an in-kind campaign contribution, which was valued at $1,850.

The significance of that contribution has already been litigated in Kenosha County Circuit Court. In February, Judge Heather Iverson specifically considered the $1,850 in-kind contribution while ruling on a defense attempt to disqualify Solis from prosecuting a criminal case. Iverson characterized the financial connection as “minimal” in the context of a countywide campaign and said such media support amounted to “routine campaign activities” that fell “well short” of the legal standard for disqualification.

Today, Mathewson and Solis frequently communicate because of their respective roles in the community. Mathewson operates a news organization that extensively covers Kenosha County’s criminal justice system while Solis runs the office responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in the county.

They are also friendly when they encounter each other socially.

Friendsgiving Wasn’t Exactly A Secret Summit
Mathewson and Solis have also socialized. At a Friendsgiving gathering in 2024, they were joined by Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner, the president of a nearby village, other public officials, politically active community members and other guests.

For Mathewson, knowing someone he covers isn’t the relevant question. Whether that relationship dictates coverage is.

Mike Graveley Had Access To Mathewson, Too, And Mathewson Had Access To Him
Former Kenosha County District Attorney Mike Graveley, a Democrat, invited Mathewson into the District Attorney’s Office several times while Graveley was DA. Some meetings involved complaints, while on another occasion Graveley invited Mathewson in because he had an idea for a news story.

That access didn’t buy Graveley favorable coverage. Mathewson frequently criticized Graveley and his decisions while also praising him when he believed Graveley deserved it. Mathewson has called Graveley one of the best trial prosecutors he has ever watched.

At the same time, Mathewson strongly disagreed with some of Graveley’s prosecutorial decisions, including his office’s unsuccessful prosecution of Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after asserting self-defense.

That’s calling balls and strikes.

KCE Has Hammered Solis, Too
KCE has published more positive coverage of the Solis administration than negative coverage because Mathewson believes, overall, that the administration is doing a good job.

But KCE has also criticized Solis and his office. In August 2025, Mathewson published an opinion piece titled, “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied — Kenosha DA’s Office Must Act Now.”

The piece criticized charging delays and other problems inside the office while acknowledging problems Solis inherited.

“That’s not Solis’s fault. But it is his problem to fix,” Mathewson wrote.

For Mathewson, that coverage demonstrates the point: knowing Solis personally has not placed his office off limits.

Where Was This Scrutiny During The Graveley Years?
Clark’s continuing scrutiny of Solis raises another question for Mathewson: where was this level of attention when Mike Graveley ran the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office?

Clark began working for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in July 2022, according to her publicly listed employment history. That gave her roughly two-and-a-half years at the newspaper while Graveley remained district attorney.

Kenosha County Eye could find no article written by Clark about Graveley during that period. Since Solis took office, Clark has written numerous articles critical of Solis and his administration.

Solis is the first Republican to hold the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office in roughly a century and the first Mexican-American elected to countywide office in Kenosha County.

Graveley is a Democrat. Graveley is white. Clark appears white.

Mathewson believes politics and race are part of Clark’s dramatically different interest in the two administrations. He describes Clark as a “racist, far-left liberal political activist disguised as a journalist.”

Clark had roughly two-and-a-half years at the Journal Sentinel while Graveley was DA, and KCE could locate no article she wrote about him. Solis takes office, and Clark’s coverage looks dramatically different.

Now she is contacting multiple people and asking questions about Mathewson and Solis.

Readers can draw their own conclusions.

Meanwhile, Back In Milwaukee
Mathewson believes how a defendant accused of violence against a Milwaukee police officer remained free before allegedly committing deadly violence in Kenosha is worthy of investigative journalism.

Apparently digging into Mathewson and Solis for more than a year is, too.

Nothing To Hide
Clark is free to investigate Mathewson and Solis, and KCE is equally free to examine her reporting.

Mathewson and Solis are friendly. They communicate frequently, briefly shared office space and Solis once represented Mathewson in a civil case. They have no familial relationship and no financial relationship whatsoever.

Kenosha County Eye will continue doing what it has always done: praise public officials when Mathewson believes they deserve praise, hammer them when he believes they deserve criticism, and call balls and strikes regardless of who happens to be standing at the plate.