A British journalist is in hot water after she advocated for the assassination of President-elect Donald Trump.
Monisha Rajesh, a freelance writer who contributes to the Guardian and has in the past published articles in the Daily Mirror and Daily Telegraph set off a firestorm with a tweet last week, writing “IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR A PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION!”
Why does @monisha_rajesh want the President assassinated?
Btw, deleting your tweet and protecting your account doesn’t hide everything ? pic.twitter.com/vplXlpTrHV
— Michael Lindsay™ (@GoosesTweets) November 10, 2016
Rajesh’s comment sparked a wave of angry responses on Twitter, and she ultimately shut down her account.
Since then, petitions have circulated calling on the Guardian to cut all ties with Rajesh. Some have even suggested she should face criminal prosecution for advocating a violent crime.
On Friday the Guardian responded to the controversy, downplaying its relationship with Rajesh, calling her “an infrequent freelance contributor, not a staff writer,” saying that “the Guardian cannot take responsibility for comments expressed by her in a personal capacity.”
Rajesh is not the first journalist to call for Trump’s demise.
Los Angeles Times writer Steven Borowiec replied on Twitter to a TIME photo article entitled “See Donald Trump’s life in photos”, writing “I would rather see Donald Trump’s life end”.
The comment, which was made prior to last Tuesday’s election, ultimately resulted in in the termination of all ties between him and the paper.
