"Assata Shakur, a Black liberation activist who was given political asylum in Cuba after her 1979 escape from a U.S. prison where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a police officer, has died, her daughter and the Cuban government said. Shakur, who was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, died Thursday in the capital city of Havana due to "health conditions and advanced age," Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Shakur's daughter, Kakuya Shakur, confirmed her mother's death in a Facebook post."
"A member of Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, Shakur had long been emblematic of the fraught relations between the U.S. and Cuba. American authorities, including President Donald Trump during his first term, had demanded her return from the communist nation for decades. The FBI put Shakur on its list of " most wanted terrorists," but, in her telling - and in the minds of her supporters - she was pursued for crimes she didn't commit or that were justified."
"Shakur and two others were involved in a gunfight with New Jersey State Police troopers following a highway traffic stop on May 2, 1973. Trooper Werner Foerster was killed and another officer was wounded, while one of Shakur's companions was also killed. Shakur, who was at the time wanted on several felonies, including bank robbery, fled but was eventually apprehended."
Assata Shakur was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard and joined the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. She was involved in a 1973 gunfight with New Jersey State Police troopers that left Trooper Werner Foerster dead and another officer wounded. She was convicted in 1977 of murder, armed robbery and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison. She escaped in November 1979 after Black Liberation Army members freed her from the Clinton Correctional Facility for women and later emerged in Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her asylum in 1984. Cuban officials and her daughter confirmed her death in Havana due to health conditions and advanced age. The FBI listed her among the most wanted terrorists while supporters contested the charges.
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