Video of the day: Hunter College prof holds machete to reporter’s neck

I really wanted to headline this as MACHETE TEACHES,  but Danny Trejo doesn’t deserve that kind of grief. A Hunter College professor already at the center of controversy over her unhinged attack on pro-life demonstrators didn’t do herself any favors when the press showed up for a few questions.

On the other hand, who doesn’t answer the door with a bladed weapon and put it to someone’s neck? Certainly not a person who called a table of literature “violence” for disagreeing with her personal position. And speaking of “violence” …

Shellyne Rodriguez spewed the menacing remarks when The Post knocked on the door of her Bronx apartment Tuesday morning — a day after she made headlines for flipping out on pro-life students at Hunter College.

“Get the f–k away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” the manic adjunct art professor shouted from behind her closed door just moments after veteran reporter Reuven Fenton identified himself.

Seconds later, Rodriguez barged out and alarmingly put the blade to the reporter’s neck.

“Get the f–k away from my door! Get the f–k away from my door!” she raged before retreating back into her apartment and slamming the door.

Ah yes, it’s good to see the quality of personnel Hunter College hires to educate its young men and women. But wait — there’s more! Fenton and his photographer took the opportunity to beat feet after Rodriquez went back in the apartment. However, she chased after them with the machete and ended up physically assaulting Fenton:

“If I see you on this block one more f–king time, you’re gonna …,” Rodriguez said, while still wielding the implement.

“Get the f–k off the block! Get the f–k out of here, yo!”

The professor briefly chased The Post’s photographer down the street to his car before coming back to kick the reporter in the shins.

What exactly does Rodriguez teach at Hunter College, anyway? Conflict avoidance? The NY Post report doesn’t specify, but I would not be surprised to hear that she teaches criminal justice reform. Either that or Gender Studies.

Whatever she teaches, she won’t be teaching it for long. Rodriguez is apparently an “adjunct” professor, which in Academia-ese translates to “one who can be dumped quickly without consequence.” Hunter College was already reviewing the previous incident involving Students for Life of America, and after seeing this footage, the spokesman for the school declared that the administration was “outraged” and pledged to take “swift and appropriate action.”

That means Rodriguez will soon be … available for other teaching opportunities, let us say. Who wants to hire The Manhattan Slasher? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? And oh, look — even as I wrote this post, Hunter College has an opening!

The manic Manhattan college professor who threatened a Post reporter with a machete has been fired, the school said Tuesday — as it emerged she is suing the NYPD for allegedly abusing her during the 2020 George Floyd protests. …

“Hunter College strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Shellyne Rodriguez and has taken immediate action,” Hunter College spokesman Vince Dimiceli told The Post.

“Rodriguez has been relieved of her duties at Hunter College effective immediately, and will not be returning to teach at the school.”

Her lawsuit claims she suffered nerve damage from being zip-tied after being arrested at a BLM protest in June 2020, part of the reaction to George Floyd’s death. Rodriguez appears to have a lot of nerve damage, not so much from zip ties but mainly between her ears. This footage will go a long way to proving any argument from NYPD about the necessity of her restraints at that time.

Her termination should hardly be the end of the consequences for Rodriguez, however. Holding a machete up to someone’s neck qualifies as assault with a “dangerous instrument,” which could be considered assault in the first degree in New York, a class B felony, or at the least assault in the second degree, a class D felony. There are actually two potential counts, since Rodriguez followed the two out to the street and threatened to “chop” them up while holding the machete, plus a simple battery count for kicking Fenton in the shin. A class B felony has a sentencing range from 1-25 years, and a class D felony runs from 1-4 years.

The question is whether Fenton wants to press charges. He should, but that’s his choice. It would, however, put Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg in quite the political pickle. Would he pursue the proper charges for a crime of violence against this unhinged radical progressive professor, or find a way to slough off the case through a “diversion” program? I’d bet it would be the latter, and I’d also bet that the New York Post would have a field day over the case if Bragg buried it like that.

For felonies, it should be pointed it, police don’t actually need a complainant if evidence of the crime amounts to probable cause for an arrest. Fenton doesn’t need to demand that police investigate; the NYPD should open the case on the basis of the video and the picture published by the Post of Rodriguez pursuing the reporters with the weapon. And one has to wonder whether the police wouldn’t also love to test Bragg in this case. Stay tuned.

And speaking of staying tuned, the latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today’s show features:

• Have we ever seen a week with so many demonstrations of media double standards?
• From Politico’s hit piece on Casey DeSantis, their aggressive reporting on Dianne Feinstein, and their regurgitation of PR lines on Jill Biden and John Fetterman, Andrew Malcolm and I are impressed with media, um … flexibility.
• Plus we talk about the Tim Scott entry into the race, Andrew’s latest column at RedState, and much more!

The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at  Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!