NYC professor who threatened Post reporter with a machete avoids jail with wrist-slap counseling plea deal

The unhinged Manhattan college professor who threatened to “chop” a Post reporter copped a wrist-slap plea deal in Bronx court on Monday.

Shellyne Rodriguez, 46, will dodge jail time and won’t even have a criminal record if she makes it through as little as six months in therapy under the terms of her sweetheart deal with Bronx prosecutors.

Rodriguez – who was axed from her Hunter College gig hours after the caught-on-video May 23 assault on reporter Reuven Fenton – pleaded guilty to a count of menacing, a misdemeanor, and to a harassment violation.

Her record will be wiped clean if she completes counseling at the Alternative Wellness Collective of Manhattan and stays out of trouble for up to a year, Judge Dan Quart said in Bronx Criminal Court.

“The terms are no new arrests before final sentencing, which will be a completion or after a completion of behavioral modification therapy no shorter than six months and no longer than 12 months,” Quart told Rodriguez.

Asked if she admitted that she “acted in a harassing and annoying manner,” Rodriguez answered, “Yes.”

Shellyne Rodriguez, who was fired from her adjunct teaching job at Hunter College after threatening a Post reporter with a machete, arrives in court Monday to plead guilty to menacing and harassment charges.
James Messerschmidt for NY Post

The disgraced adjunct – who has a new gig teaching a sculpture class at Cooper Union for the fall semester – arrived to court with an entourage of supporters who used jackets and umbrellas to shield her from news photographers and reporters.

She did not comment as she left the courthouse following the hearing.

Rodriguez first made headlines when she was caught on video flipping out on a group of students who set up a table with anti-abortion materials at Hunter on May 2.

An entourage of maniacal supporters surround ex-Hunter College professor Shellyne Rodriguez as she arrives in Bronx court Monday. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to menacing and harassment for threatening a Post reporter with a machete in May.
James Messerschmidt for NY Post

“You’re not educating s–t. This is f—ing propaganda,” she snapped. “What are you going to do, like anti-trans next?”

The crazed educator then tossed the pamphlets on the floor in front of the stunned students.

On May 23, Fenton knocked on the door of her Bronx apartment to get her side of the story — only to have her lunge out into the hallway with a machete that she put to his throat.

“Get the f–k away from my door or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” Rodriguez shouted in the caught-on-video assault before retreating back inside, leaving Fenton and a Post photographer dumbstruck.

But she wasn’t done. When the two left the building, Rodriguez ran after them in the street while wielding the machete, chasing the photographer down the street, the video showed.

“If I see you on this block one more f—ing time, you’re gonna…,” she began yelling. “Get the f–k off the block! Get the f–k out of here, yo!”

Veteran Post reporter Reuven Fenton knocked on the door of ex-Hunter College professor Shellyne Rodriguez to get her comment on a viral video. Rodriguez lunged at Fenton with a machete and was charged with menacing and harassment.
Robert Miller for the N.Y. Post

She was later charged with harassment, menacing and weapons possession, and pleaded not guilty.

The charges are misdemeanors, which carry a penalty of up to a year in prison.

Just hours later, Hunter, where she worked as an arts professor, fired her while saying the school “strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Shellyne Rodriguez.”

Students at Cooper Union in the East Village told The Post last week that it was “scary” and “crazy” that Rodriguez had since been hired there.

Embattled former Hunter College professor Shellyne Rodriguez, surrounded by supporters, leaves Bronx court without commenting. Rodriguez was ordered to undergo counseling for threatening a Post reporter with a machete on May 23.
James Messerschmidt for NY Post

The Post first got word of her pending plea deal during an Aug. 14 court hearing where the judge raised the issue of a “possible disposition” in the case.

While no details were revealed at the time, the judge noted that he had received a “supplemental certificate of compliance” from Bronx Community Solutions, a neighborhood-based treatment program that offers defendants alternatives to jail, including counseling and community service.

Rodriguez is due to be sentenced May 15, 2024.

source: nypost.com