The now-fired, machete-wielding NYC professor who threatened to “chop up” a reporter was seen grabbing a bite to eat in a Bronx Popeyes restaurant after her court appearance Thursday.
Shellyne Rodriguez, 45, was charged with menacing and harassment and then released on her on recognizance after her arraignment, according to The New York Post, after she surrendered to police Thursday morning. The Bronx District Attorney’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rodriguez and a handful of supporters who backed her in court moseyed over to the fast food establishment, where she was seen smiling and laughing.
The criminal charges stem from Tuesday’s confrontation with a New York Post reporter. The NYPD said Rodriguez allegedly followed him out of her apartment building with a machete, chased him along the street and kicked him in the leg.
MACHETE-WIELDING NYC PROFESSOR FACES CHARGES AFTER CHASING REPORTER, CLAIMING SHE’S A VICTIM
Shellyne Rodriguez at the counter of a Burger King and Popeyes location in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a NY Post reporter’s neck, was released after appearing in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Shellyne Rodriguez at the counter of a Burger King and Popeyes location in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a NY Post reporter’s neck, was released after appearing in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Rodriguez has not returned Fox News Digital’s calls for comment, but she released a statement to ARTnews, saying Hunter College “capitulated” to “racists, white nationalists and misogynists” after they fired her.
She said the entire ordeal “has taken a toll on my mental health.”
UNION BACKTRACKS, AXES PETITION AFTER PROFESSOR THREATENS REPORTER WITH MACHETE
A New York Post reporter visited Rodriguez in her Bronx home after she was seen on video destroying Students for Life in America’s pro-life display in an expletive-filled rant that went viral earlier this month.
The union at Hunter College appeared to back Rodriguez after the May 2 video, with an online petition encouraging people to “stand with” Rodriguez against “right wing anti-abortion backlash.”
Shellyne Rodriguez walks along the street in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a NY Post reporter’s neck, was released after appearing in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Shellyne Rodriguez leaves Bronx Criminal Court in the Bronx, NY, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor was caught on video holding a machete to a New York Post reporter’s neck. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
The petition, which was posted on Friday, 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.
Post reporter Reuven Fenton followed up on the viral video and visited Rodriguez at her Bronx apartment to talk to her about the tirade against the pro-life student group.
PROFESSOR HOLDS MACHETE TO REPORTER’S NECK AFTER DESTROYING STUDENT’S PRO-LIFE DISPLAY: REPORT
She told ARTnews that Fenton and a photographer “did not use the intercom to gain access, and appear to have been trespassing inside the building when they pounded on her door and started yelling at her through the door.” Fenton said he identified himself as a reporter.
The university told her to apologize, which she told ARTnews she did, “Yet before the process could be completed, on May 19, Students for Life circulated a manipulated video of the incident on social media and mobilized their members to attack me.”
Shellyne Rodriguez walks along the street in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a New York Post reporter’s neck, was released after appearing in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Shellyne Rodriguez threatens a Post reporter by holding a large machete to his throat Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in the Bronx. Rodriguez, a Manhattan college professor, flipped out on a group of students who set up an information table opposing abortion inside Hunter College. (Robert Miller for the NY Post)
“For the past two weeks, I have been inundated with vile and hateful emails, texts and voicemails nonstop,” she told the outlet. “As much as this incident has stakes for my life, it is ultimately just one part of a broader political struggle taking place across the country.
“Right wing media organizations are weaponizing and sensationalizing this case to further their agenda, and using me as a prism through which to project their attacks on women, trans people, Black people, Latinx people, migrants, and beyond.”
PROFESSOR HOLDS MACHETE TO REPORTER’S NECK AFTER DESTROYING STUDENT’S PRO-LIFE DISPLAY: REPORT
Wendy Olsoff, a co-founder of P.P.O.W, the NYC gallery that represents Rodriguez, told ARTnews the situation is similar to when the American Family Association and Rev. Donald Wildmon went after David Wojnarowicz, whose estate is also on the gallery’s roster.
Wojnarowicz was gay and spoke openly about governmental ignorance of AIDS, causing some Christian groups to term his art “blasphemous,” the outlet reported.
Shellyne Rodriguez walks along the street in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a New York Post reporter’s neck, was released after appearing in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Shellyne Rodriguez leaves Bronx Criminal Court in the Bronx, New York, May 25, 2023. The former Hunter College professor was caught on video holding a machete to a New York Post reporter’s neck. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
“Now I feel like nothing has changed and, in fact, the strategies of these organizations have gotten more sophisticated,” Olsoff said in a statement to ARTnews. “Now all organizations, like the AFA, have to do is manipulate an iPhone video and characterize Rodriguez as an insane gay Black woman professor.
“With the click of a button, their hateful message of fear, violence, racism, sexism and homophobia can be sent across the country and the world – meant to target people of color, the LGBTQAI+, women’s rights and anyone who doesn’t fall in line with their agenda.”
P.P.O.W. did not return Fox News Digital’s calls for comment.
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Rodriguez is also a faculty member at New York City’s The School of Visual Arts, which said it is reviewing Rodriguez’s employment, and she was not scheduled to teach any classes, even before the violent altercation.
“SVA is aware of the incidents involving one of our faculty members, Shellyne Rodriguez, who is not currently teaching any courses at the College,” the school said in a statement to news outlets. “We are assessing to determine any potential next steps.”
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