Shellyne Rodriguez hangs out in the Bronx after making bail
The former Hunter College professor, who was caught on video holding a machete to a NY Post reporter's neck, is out eating at a Burger King and Popeyes location. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
The now-fired, machete-wielding NYC professor who threatened to "chop up" a reporter was seen grabbing a bite to eat in a Bronx Burger King/Popeyes restaurant after her court appearance Thursday.
Shellyne Rodriguez, 45, was charged with three misdemeanors – second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon – as well as menacing, which is a violation.
All the charges are "non-bail eligible offenses," according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office, so she was released on her own recognizance after her court appearance Thursday.
After her release, Rodriguez and her supporters moseyed over to the fast food establishment, where she was seen smiling and laughing.
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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)
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.
The confrontation was caught on camera and in seen several photos on New York Post's website, which led to her losing her job as an adjunct professor at Hunter College.
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Rodriguez has not returned Fox News Digital's calls for comment, but she released a statement to ARTnews, saying the college "capitulated" to "racists, white nationalists and misogynists" after they fired her and said the ordeal "has taken a toll on my mental health."
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.
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)
She allegedly yelled, "Get the f--- away from my door or I'm gonna chop you up with this machete," according to the criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital.
The union at Hunter College appeared to back Rodriguez after the May 2 video of her appearing to destroy a pro-life students' display and pushed an online petition that encouraged people to "stand with" Rodriguez against "right wing anti-abortion backlash."
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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.
The union has since said in a statement: "As the union representing faculty and staff at the City University of New York, the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY has a duty to ensure that every worker that we represent is afforded the full protections of their contractual due-process rights. The PSC does not condone violence, nor do we comment on members’ ongoing disciplinary proceedings. The union has not released or endorsed any statement regarding any incidents involving Professor Shellyne Rodriguez. "
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.
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)
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)
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."
PROFESSOR HOLDS MACHETE TO REPORTER'S NECK AFTER DESTROYING STUDENT'S PRO-LIFE DISPLAY: REPORT
"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."
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)
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.
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"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."
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)
P.P.O.W. did not return Fox News Digital's multiple calls for comment.
Rodriguez is also a faculty member at New York City's The School of Visual Arts, which said in a statement on Friday that it will not review Rodriguez's contract after reviewing the video where she's seen threatening the reporter.
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She currently didn't have any scheduled courses for the next semester at SVA before the incident, according to the school.
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