A professor at a New York art school was fired after aggressively challenging pro-life students on campus and then pointing a machete at a reporter.
Shellyne Rodriguez, 46, was an associate professor at the School of Visual Arts and Hunter College.
In early May, she angrily confronted students occupying a pro-life booth at the college, verbally abusing them and then vandalizing the exhibit.
When asked about the incident at her home in the Bronx, Rodriguez pulled out a machete, held it to the reporter’s throat at her door, and threatened to “chop him up.”
When New York Post reporter Reuven Fenton and his fellow photographer left, she followed them out the front door, machete still in hand.
“Hunter College strongly condemns Shellyne Rodriguez’s unacceptable actions and has taken immediate action,” said Vince Dimiceli, a spokesman for the school.
He told The Post, “Rodriguez has been relieved of her duties at Hunter College effective immediately and will not be returning to teach at the school.”
Shellyne Rodriguez, 46, was fired from her job as an associate professor at the School of Visual Arts and Hunter College in New York City after aggressively attacking pro-life students on campus and then attacking a reporter with a machete
Rodriguez held a machete to the throat of New York Post reporter Reuven Fenton, pictured above, when she was questioned about her behavior
It was also revealed Tuesday that Rodriguez is suing the NYPD after she was arrested during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Rodriguez alleges in her lawsuit that police officers pulled her hair, pressed her face against a gate and repeatedly punched her in the stomach.
She was arrested in the Bronx and taken to a police van with 14 others.
Her hands were bound with zip ties, which she said were tied so tightly for two hours that they caused permanent nerve damage and impaired her ability to create art.
The charges against her were dropped in September 2020: she is due to appear in court at the next hearing in her lawsuit in July.
Rodriguez’s latest drama began when a pro-life group released a video showing her pausing at an exhibit at Hunter College that was advertised as an educational event.
“You don’t raise shit,” Rodriguez said to one of the students.
“This is fucking propaganda.” What are you going to do next, for example against trans people?
“Those are cops***.” That’s violent. “You provoke my students.”
Rodriguez drew the ire of social media after a video was seen of her hurling obscenities at pro-life students over an exhibition at her school that she ended up screwing up
A pro-abortion group on campus called on students to defend Rodriguez’s attack on anti-abortion activists
While conservatives and pro-life activists are furious, a group called CUNY for Abortion Rights is defending Rodriguez
One of the male students tries to talk to Rodriguez before she interrupts him and says, “You can’t even have a friggin’ baby.”
Then Rodriguez starts pushing her brochures off the display table and tells her, “Get the fuck out of here.”
She says, “F*** this s***” again before walking away while the two students try to put their pamphlets back in place.
While conservatives and life advocates were furious, a group called CUNY for Abortion Rights defended Rodriguez.
Despite their angry and foul language, the group insists Rodriguez “constructively criticized” the anti-abortion ad.
Its members, who have not been identified, added: “Your actions to end the session were fully justified.”
They added: “We stand with Shellyne Rodriguez and oppose the right-wing anti-abortion backlash she is experiencing!”
In several panels, they explained in detail what happened after Rodriguez’s tirade.
“On May 12, Shellyne was called to the Hunter Provost’s office, where she was questioned by the Provost and the Dean about diversity and campus relations.”
Her release was not confirmed until Tuesday after the reporter was attacked.