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Machete madness: Hunter College professor calls pro-life display 'violent,' then threatens reporter
I haven't had one of my posts removed in a while. I think I'll kick over a jerry can of gasoline.
Some people meet speech with more speech. But this
@Hunter_College
professor meets it with...
*checks notes*
... a machete. Yeah, you read that right.
@Hunter_College
professor meets it with...
*checks notes*
... a machete. Yeah, you read that right.
thefire.org
Machete madness: Hunter College professor calls pro-life display ‘violent,’ then threatens reporter...
An adjunct assistant professor of art at New York’s Hunter College reacted angrily to two pro-life students tabling on campus by berating
Machete madness: Hunter College professor calls pro-life display ‘violent,’ then threatens reporter...
An adjunct assistant professor of art at New York’s Hunter College reacted angrily to two pro-life students tabling on campus by berating
Link to tweet
Machete madness: Hunter College professor calls pro-life display ‘violent,’ then threatens reporter with a massive blade for asking questions
We should meet speech with more speech. Not machetes.
by Jessie Appleby June 5, 2023
FIRE sees many cases of students attempting to shut down speech they dislike on campus on grounds the speaker — or even the speech itself — is “violent” or “harmful.” But students are not alone in relying on dubious ideas about speech as violence to justify censorial or outright threatening behavior. ... On May 2, Shellyne Rodriguez, adjunct assistant professor of art at New York’s Hunter College, which is part of the City University of New York, reacted angrily to two pro-life students tabling on campus by berating them and vandalizing their display. ...“This is fucking propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next?” she told the students. “This is bullshit. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.” ... The pro-life students tried to defuse the situation, but Rodriguez responded, “Get this shit the fuck out of here,” before she shoved their materials off the table and walked away.
{snip}
If that had been where the story ended, it would be a shameful misunderstanding of the difference between counterspeech and shutting down others’ speech, but not a particularly noteworthy one, given how often that continues to happen in a variety of contexts. And Rodriguez might still have her job. But that’s not where it ended. Not by a long shot.
After the video went viral, a New York Post reporter knocked on Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment door on May 23 to ask some questions. As soon as he identified himself, Rodriguez reportedly yelled, “Get the fuck away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” And then Rodriguez did come out, brandishing a machete — yes, a real machete — and held it to the reporter’s neck as a photographer accompanying him snapped away. Rodriguez retreated into her apartment, so the reporter and photographer left the building. But then Rodriguez, still carrying the machete, followed them outside. She chased the photographer down the street to his car and reportedly approached the reporter and kicked him in the shins before returning to her building.
{snip}
FIRE routinely defends the free expression rights of objectors to protest a speaker or speech they dislike — including the right to ask a speaker pointed questions or make rude or uncivil comments during Q&A. But vandalism, disruption, and violence do not qualify as permissible counterspeech. We expect students to abide by these standards, and it is not too much to ask the same of their professors.
{snip}
We should meet speech with more speech. Not machetes.
by Jessie Appleby June 5, 2023
FIRE sees many cases of students attempting to shut down speech they dislike on campus on grounds the speaker — or even the speech itself — is “violent” or “harmful.” But students are not alone in relying on dubious ideas about speech as violence to justify censorial or outright threatening behavior. ... On May 2, Shellyne Rodriguez, adjunct assistant professor of art at New York’s Hunter College, which is part of the City University of New York, reacted angrily to two pro-life students tabling on campus by berating them and vandalizing their display. ...“This is fucking propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next?” she told the students. “This is bullshit. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.” ... The pro-life students tried to defuse the situation, but Rodriguez responded, “Get this shit the fuck out of here,” before she shoved their materials off the table and walked away.
{snip}
If that had been where the story ended, it would be a shameful misunderstanding of the difference between counterspeech and shutting down others’ speech, but not a particularly noteworthy one, given how often that continues to happen in a variety of contexts. And Rodriguez might still have her job. But that’s not where it ended. Not by a long shot.
After the video went viral, a New York Post reporter knocked on Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment door on May 23 to ask some questions. As soon as he identified himself, Rodriguez reportedly yelled, “Get the fuck away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” And then Rodriguez did come out, brandishing a machete — yes, a real machete — and held it to the reporter’s neck as a photographer accompanying him snapped away. Rodriguez retreated into her apartment, so the reporter and photographer left the building. But then Rodriguez, still carrying the machete, followed them outside. She chased the photographer down the street to his car and reportedly approached the reporter and kicked him in the shins before returning to her building.
{snip}
FIRE routinely defends the free expression rights of objectors to protest a speaker or speech they dislike — including the right to ask a speaker pointed questions or make rude or uncivil comments during Q&A. But vandalism, disruption, and violence do not qualify as permissible counterspeech. We expect students to abide by these standards, and it is not too much to ask the same of their professors.
{snip}
18 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
The First Amendment Retweeted
“Freedom of speech is not just about speech. It is also about the right to debate with fellow citizens on self-government, to discover the truth in the marketplace of ideas, to express one’s identity, and to realize self-fulfillment in a free society.”
Link to tweet
