The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has added the first woman to its list of most wanted terrorists. Assata Shakur — the step-aunt of slain rapper Tupac Shakur — is currently wanted for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper 40 years ago. As of Thursday, the reward for her capture hit $2 million — with $1 million coming from the FBI and $1 million coming from the state of New Jersey.
Shakur — born Joanne Chesimard — is now thought to live in Cuba. In 1973, as a member of the Black Liberation Army, Shakur was arrested and convicted of murdering State Trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop. According to New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, Shakur and two other individuals were stopped by Foerster and his partner for a broken tail light. When the troopers approached the stopped car, gunfire rang out, injuring both officers. Shakur then took Foerster’s gun and shot him twice in the head.
Shakur was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to life internment, but escaped prison in 1979. She lived in safe houses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before being spotted in Cuba in 1984.
“She continues to flaunt her freedom in the face of this horrific crime,” Fuentes said in a news conference Thursday.
“She is a domestic terrorist who murdered a law enforcement officer execution style,” said Newark-based FBI agent Aaron Ford. “And while we can’t right the wrongs of the past, we can and will continue to pursue justice no matter how long it takes.”
Cuba currently has no diplomatic ties with the United States government, and therefore, has no extradition agreement in place. Besides abduction and extortion, there is no means by which the United States can force Shakur back to the United States. However, there is hope that — as the diplomatic freeze between Havana and Washington starts to thaw, the FBI will be able to arrest Shakur. Recently, Cuba has sent back several fugitives to the U.S., including one man convicted of mail fraud and another sought for child pornography.
Shakur’s story has been taken up as an example of the excessive overreach of those involved in the Black Power Movement. According to Shakur, she was shot twice by the police during the incident. She once wrote, “I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the U.S. government’s policy towards people of color.”
In an open letter to Pope John Paul II during his 1998 visit to Cuba, Shakur makes the case for her exile and persecution by the New Jersey State Police:
“To make a long story short … let me emphasize that justice for me is not the issue, it is justice for my people that is at stake. When my people receive justice, I am sure that I will receive it, too. I know that Your Holiness will reach your own conclusions, but I feel compelled to present the circumstances surrounding the application of ‘justice’ in New Jersey. I am not the first nor the last person to be victimized by the New Jersey system of ‘justice.’ The New Jersey State Police are infamous for their racism and brutality. Many legal actions have been filed against them and just recently, in a class action legal proceeding, the New Jersey State Police were found guilty of having an ‘officially sanctioned, de facto policy of targeting minorities for investigation and arrest.’”