Shellyne Rodriguez, a Manhattan college professor has been fired from Hunter College after holding a machete to a New York Post reporter’s throat and threatening to “chop him up” on Tuesday. The incident took place when the reporter from the New York Post knocked on Rodriguez’s door at her Bronx apartment, following a separate caught-on-camera scenario where Rodriguez destroyed a Students for Life of America table display.
After the reporter identified himself, Rodriguez made threats from behind the closed door, before storming out of her apartment and putting the blade of a machete on the reporter’s neck, then retreating back inside and slamming the door. Rodriguez then followed the reporter and photographer outside, still wielding the machete, pursuing them down the street and kicking the reporter in the shins.
As Rodriguez accosted the journalist she yelled:
If I see you on this block one more f**king time, you’re gonna… Get the f**k off the block! Get the f**k out of here, yo!
Vince Dimiceli, a spokesperson for Hunter College where Rodriguez worked as an adjunct art professor, stated that Rodriguez had been fired on Tuesday while condemning her actions as unacceptable.
Hunter College strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Shellyne Rodriguez and has taken immediate action. Rodriguez has been relieved of her duties at Hunter College, effective immediately.
UPDATE: The unhinged pro-abortion professor who vandalized a Students for Life table, Shellyne Rodriguez, holds machete to NY Post reporter’s neck and threatens to “chop” him up. https://t.co/DEY4i12Wo4 pic.twitter.com/GwjLDPAnDS
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 23, 2023
This violent incident unfolded after another video went viral, showing Rodriguez verbally attacking pro-life students at Hunter College who had set up an information table in early May. In the video, she can be heard cursing at the students, and accusing them of offering “propaganda.”
In the video Rodriguez says:
This is bulls***. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.
Then the professor begins to toss the pamphlets and destroy the display while saying:
Get this shit the f**k outta here. F*** this sh**!
In addition to destroying pro-life student displays and putting machetes on the neck of journalists, Rodriguez has a history of organizing movements such as “Decolonize this place” and FTP (“F*** the Police”) from 2019-2020. Video emerged of Rodriguez interrogating and intimidating an independent reporter in January 2020.
this activist was a frequent organizer in “decolonize this place” and the FTP or “fuck the police” movement in NYC, active in 2019-2020. Also has a history of intimidate journalists https://t.co/Mzxm2uuE4p pic.twitter.com/AVbs8pG9Xs
— Elad Eliahu (@elaadeliahu) May 23, 2023
Rodriguez is currently suing the NYPD following her arrest during a George Floyd protest in June 2020. As the lead plaintiff, Rodriguez alleges that she suffered nerve damage when she was restrained with zip ties and placed in a van with 14 other protesters. The lawsuit claims that officers assaulted Rodriguez as she attempted to leave the protest, including pulling her hair, pushing her face into a gate, and repeatedly punching her in the stomach. While in custody, Rodriguez claims to have complained to a police officer that her wrist restraints were too tight. Rodriguez alleges that the officer responded by tightening the zip ties even further. The zip ties were allegedly not removed for two hours, by which time Rodriguez claims her wrists had already suffered injuries. Rodriguez asserts that as a result, she experienced swelling and bilateral thumb numbness due to nerve damage. The lawsuit states that these injuries impacted her ability to create art.
The charges against Rodriguez stemming from the protest were dismissed in September 2020, according to the lawsuit. The case is scheduled for a hearing in July.