Tupac Shakur’s godmother has been placed on the FBI’s Most-Wanted Terrorists list, becoming the first woman added to the list and only the second domestic terrorist. Joanne Deborah Chesimard, now known as Assata Shakur, was convicted in 1977 of the murder of state trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike. After her conviction, she escaped prison in 1979 and eventually fled to Cuba where she was granted political asylum in 1984.
The FBI says it added 66-year-old Chesimard to the list because she is “a supreme terror against the government” who continues to advocate revolution and terrorism against the U.S. ” Chesimard was a member of the Black Panther Party, which was monitored closely by the FBI in the 60’s and 70’s. Chesimard’s brother was the stepfather of late American rapper Tupac Shakur.
The reward for Shakur’s capture used to be $1 million. However, officials announced the bounty has now been increased to $2 million on the 40th anniversary of her crimes.
73-year-old Lennox S. Hinds was one of the men who represented Chesimard during her original trial. The current professor of criminal justice at Rutgers University scoffed at her placement on the list:
“There is no evidence that she in fact either caused the death or was involved in the shooting of the state trooper. The allegation that Ms. Shakur is a terrorist is unfounded… The attempt at this point by the New Jersey State Police to characterize her as a terrorist is designed to inflame the public who may be unfamiliar with the facts.”
Democracy Now recently posted the following open letter read by Shakur when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba after the pontiff was called upon to ask for her extradition:
This is the info that accompanies her FBI wanted poster:
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Joanne Chesimard is wanted for escaping from prison in Clinton, New Jersey, while serving a life sentence for murder. On May 2, 1973, Chesimard, who was part of a revolutionary extremist organization known as the Black Liberation Army, and two accomplices were stopped for a motor vehicle violation on the New Jersey Turnpike by two troopers with the New Jersey State Police. At the time, Chesimard was wanted for her involvement in several felonies, including bank robbery. Chesimard and her accomplices opened fire on the troopers. One trooper was wounded and the other was shot and killed execution-style at point-blank range. Chesimard fled the scene, but was subsequently apprehended. One of her accomplices was killed in the shoot-out and the other was also apprehended and remains in jail.
In 1977, Chesimard was found guilty of first degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery. She was sentenced to life in prison. On November 2, 1979, Chesimard escaped from prison and lived underground before being located in Cuba in 1984. She is thought to currently still be living in Cuba.
Chesimard has scars on her chest, abdomen, left shoulder, and left knee. She may wear her hair in a variety of styles and dress in African tribal clothing.
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Common recorded the following tribute to Assata Shakur called “A Song For Assata” after having met with her personally in Cuba.
