image source, Getty Images
Shellyne Rodriguez was fired from Hunter College in New York
A Hunter College professor has been fired after threatening a New York Post reporter and a photographer with a machete.
The reporters attempted to speak with Shellyne Rodriguez about an incident in which she criticized anti-abortion activists on campus, the Post said.
Ms. Rodriguez followed them into the street with the machete, video showed.
Hunter College, part of the City University of New York, confirmed that she had been “relieved of her duties”.
The reporter, Reuven Fenton, went with a photographer to Ms Rodriguez’s address in an attempt to speak to her after a viral video showed her criticizing anti-abortion students at the university.
According to the Post, she yelled, “Get… away from my door or I’ll chop you up with this machete.”
The reporters said they left immediately but were followed by Ms Rodriguez into the street – with the ensuing interaction captured on a car dashcam and published by the Post.
Hunter College spokesman Vince Dimiceli told BBC News: “Hunter College strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Shellyne Rodriguez and has taken immediate action.
“Rodriguez has been relieved of his duties at Hunter College effective immediately and will not return to teach at the school.”
The New York Post, meanwhile, told the BBC it was “glad the reporter is safe”.
In the initial viral video that the Post sought comment on, Ms. Rodriguez addresses an information booth run by Students for Life, a group of more than 120,000 young anti-abortion Americans who want to end access to abortion.
“You don’t educate… This is… propaganda,” she tells the students in attendance. “This is violent. You’re triggering my students.”
In an argument-filled rant, she then demands their removal and shoves pamphlets off the table before walking away, the viral video showed.
“When professors don’t respect their students and their rights, schools become unsafe,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement. “Students should be taught how to peacefully exchange ideas with each other and professional staff.”
A spokesman for the New York Police Department confirmed that an incident took place, but said it remains under investigation.
Ms Rodriguez has been contacted for comment.
