A CUNY professor from the Bronx who allegedly attacked a New York Post reporter with a machete is due back in criminal court at the end of the month.
According to the complaint from the Bronx District Attorney’s office, Shellyne Rodriguez — a now former professor at Hunter College in Manhattan — berated and threatened reporters Reuven Fenton and Robert Miller when they came to question her for a story at her apartment in the south Parkchester section of the Bronx last month.
The complaint states that when the two Post reporters knocked on Rodriguez’s door on May 23, she opened it with a cleaver in hand and told them to “get the f–k away from my door or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete.”
She then allegedly held the machete to Fenton’s throat before following the reporters out to their car with the weapon, and then into a nearby salon, threatening them. According to the complaint, she swatted at Fenton with her hand and kicked him in the shins before the journalists were able to flee the scene.
According to an article about the incident in the Post, Miller caught part of the altercation on camera. In the video, it appears that Rodriguez holds a bolo-type machete up to Fenton’s neck. Miller can be heard behind the camera, saying “let’s get out of here, you can’t do that.”
The Post reported that the attack happened a day after the newspaper ran a story about Rodriguez lambasting a group of pro-life students who set up a table at Hunter College — although it was not made clear whether or not Fenton and Miller approached Rodriguez to ask about that incident.
A spokesperson from the Hunter College Office of Communications confirmed with the Bronx Times that the school fired Rodriguez after the altercation with the Post reporters, saying in a statement that she “was relieved of her duties at Hunter College and will not be returning to teach at the school.” The spokesperson said they couldn’t provide information on how long Rodriguez worked at Hunter College, what subject she taught, or at which campus she taught at.
The Associated Press reported that Rodriguez was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History.
Rodriguez was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court on May 24 and charged with second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and second-degree harassment. She is due next in court on June 26.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
