Machete prof cuts a deal
No-jail plea for reporter assault
The unhinged 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.”
The disgraced adjunct — who has a new gig teaching a sculpture class at Cooper Union for the fall semester — arrived at 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.
“You’re not educating s--t. This is f--king 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.
She was later charged with harassment, menacing and weapons possession.
Rodriguez is due to be sentenced May 15, 2024.