Tipsheet

Crazed Machete-Wielding Professor Slapped With Charges After Threatening to Chop Up Reporter

I hope this will be the case, given that the crime was captured on video. Former SUNY Hunter College professor Shellyne Rodriguez, who was fired over this incident, threatened to chop up a New York Post reporter with a machete, and chased the journalist onto the sidewalk. Rodriguez was also caught vandalizing a pro-life student exhibit and is involved in a lawsuit against the NYPD, where the ex-professor alleges the police used excessive force against her during a 2020 protest over George Floyd’s death. You can’t threaten to murder people in this society. Ms. Rodriguez has surrendered to police pending menacing and harassment charges (via National Review):

SUNY Hunter College professor Shellyne Rodriguez surrendered to police … seeking comment regarding a video in which she can be seen harassing pro-life students.

Rodriguez, 45, turned herself into the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx after footage emerged on Tuesday showing her holding a machete to the throat of Post reporter Reuven Fenton. She has been charged with menacing and harassment, an NYPD spokesman told National Review. 

Fenton had visited Rodriguez’s apartment in the Bronx to ask her about a recent controversy on campus in which she destroyed a table display set up by pro-life students. However, upon opening the door, Rodriguez brandished a machete and chased Fenton out of the building. 


Even more remarkable is that her union had a petition supporting her through this legal circus. Once more details were revealed, it was removed (via Fox News): 

The union that represents staff at the City University of New York distanced itself from former Hunter College Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art Shellyne Rodriguez after the embattled educator threatened a reporter with a machete. 

A spokesperson for the union, PSC, told Fox News Digital Wednesday that it "does not condone violence" when asked to comment on the incident, but added that it also does not "comment on members’ ongoing disciplinary proceedings." 

"The union has not released or endorsed any statement regarding any incidents involving Professor Shellyne Rodriguez," the spokesperson said. 

The remarks stand in stark contrast to a petition that appeared on the union's website just days after Rodriguez became embroiled in controversy over a profanity-laced tirade against a group of students who had set up a pro-life display at Hunter College. 

[…] 

The petition, which was posted on May 19, has since been taken down from the union's website. However, an archived version of the web page argued the professor was "facing retaliation from the administration" due to the incident earlier this month.

And, of course, there’s been dead silence from the media, specifically The New York Times, who hurled bouquets at her feet regarding her art exhibit last month: