Even by the standards of the New York Daily News and the New York Post, this seemed like a step too far.

The tabloid newspapers chose to put close-up images from a gunman's execution video on their front pages on Thursday, immediately provoking condemnation from other journalists and public figures.

Commenters on Twitter called it "disgusting" and "despicable," among other adjectives.

Most of the ire was directed at the Daily News, which showed several still frames from the video taken by Vester Flanagan on Wednesday when he shot and killed a television reporter and photojournalist in Virginia.

Radio host Mark Levin called the newspaper "heartless" in a tweet.

Montel Williams, the former talk show host, said he thought the Daily News was "trying to use shock value to advocate gun control" and urged a boycott.