Shakur was arrested in 1973 and later sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a state trooper. Between 1973 and 1977, Shakur was charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, bank robbery, and kidnapping in relation to the shootout and six other incidents. [124] [81] The trial was delayed for a few days after Shakur was diagnosed with pleurisy. [20][21][22], She began using the name Assata Olugbala Shakur in 1971, rejecting Joanne Chesimard as a "slave name". [115] In November 1974, New York State Supreme Court Justice Peter Farrell dismissed the attempted murder indictment because of insufficient evidence, declaring "The court can only note with disapproval that virtually a year has passed before counsel made an application for the most basic relief permitted by law, namely an attack on the sufficiency of the evidence submitted by the grand jury. Tools Sundiata Acoli (born January 14, 1937, [1] as Clark Edward Squire) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. [205] The book does not give a detailed account of her involvement in the BLA or the events on the New Jersey Turnpike, except to say that the jury "[c]onvicted a woman with her hands up! Expand. Assata Shakur is Tupac Shakur's godmother Assata Shakur was the de facto leader of the Black Liberation Army in the early 1970s. The National Conference of Black Lawyers and Mos Def are among the professional organizations and entertainers to support Assata Shakur; the "Hands Off Assata" campaign is organized by Dream Hampton.[221]. [182][133] Their investigation, which focused on alleged human rights abuses of political prisoners, cited Shakur as "one of the worst cases" of such abuses and including her in "a class of victims of FBI misconduct through the COINTELPRO strategy and other forms of illegal government conduct who as political activists have been selectively targeted for provocation, false arrests, entrapment, fabrication of evidence, and spurious criminal prosecutions". . [12] She attended for a while before dropping out. [38][54], Shakur and others[38][54][55] claim that she was targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO as a result of her involvement with the black liberation organizations. [58] Acoli was captured after a 36-hour manhuntinvolving 400 people, state police helicopters, and bloodhounds. Black militancy: notes from the underground. In May 1973, Shakur and two other members of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) were pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike by State Trooper Werner Foerster and another highway officer. [120][121] The trial was delayed until 1976,[119] when Shakur was represented by Stanley Cohen and Evelyn Williams. "Neurosurgeon's Testimony Backs Mrs. Chesimard". In her autobiography, she wrote: "I didn't know what a fool they had made out of me until I grew up and started to read real history". The FBI put out a $2 million bounty for her recapture almost 50 years ago. (February 20, 1974). [42] Robert Daley, Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Police, for example, described Shakur as "the final wanted fugitive, the soul of the gang, the mother hen who kept them together, kept them moving, kept them shooting". [181] An international panel of seven jurists were invited by Hinds to tour a number of U.S. prisons, and concluded in a report filed with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that the conditions of her solitary confinement were "totally unbefitting any prisoner". They financed this by stealing $105,000 from a Bamberger's store in Paramus, New Jersey. Two years later, she escaped. "Police by Hundreds Comb 2 Boroughs for 6 Suspects in Ambush Shootings". Beginning in 1971, Shakur was allegedly involved in several incidents of assault and robbery, in which she was charged or identified as wanted for questioning, including attacks on New York City police and bank robberies in the area. [107], Before jury selection was complete, it was discovered that Shakur was pregnant. [176] At Alderson, Shakur was housed in the Maximum Security Unit, which also contained several members of the Aryan Sisterhood as well as Sandra Good and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, followers of Charles Manson. [57], Years later when she was living in Cuba, Shakur was asked about the BLA's alleged involvement in the killings of police officers. [169][174][175], On April 8, 1978, Shakur was transferred to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, where she met Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebrn[10] and Mary Alice, a Catholic nun, who introduced Shakur to the concept of liberation theology. Assata's real crime, FBI spokesman Aaron Ford said, was that from Cuba she continues to "maintain and promote her ideology" and "provides anti-U.S. government speeches espousing the Black Liberation Army message"an ideology and message that the U.S. government has declared "terrorism." At least 12 aging members of the Black Panthers are still imprisoned in the US. The BLA's most notorious attack, however, came in 1972, when it carried out perhaps the most gruesome assassination of police officers in the history of New York, killing two patrolmen, Greg Foster. [58] Assata Shakur testified that she was on her way to Baltimore for a job as a bar waitress. 1973) (per curiam). While forensic evidence backed up her account, Assata Shakur was sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison for the murder of a police officer, a crime she didn't commit. In May 1973, Shakur was arrested after being wounded in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. ". Wilfredo, Cancio Isla (December 18, 2007). [39][40] Shakur was alleged to have been directly involved with the Foster and Laurie murders, and involved tangentially with the Piagentini and Jones murders. Shakur still frequently visited her grandparents in the south. [16], After graduation from CCNY, Shakur moved to Oakland, California, where she joined the Black Panther Party (BPP). Fast Facts: Assata Shakur Also Known As: JoAnne Chesimard Born: July 16, 1947, in New York City Trump specifically called for the return of "the cop-killer Joanne Chesimard". Shakur converted to Catholicism as a child and attended the all-girls Cathedral High School, for six months before transferring to public high school. [59][61], The stop occurred 200 yards (183m) south of what was then the Turnpike Authority administration building. Chesimard, along with former Black Panthers turned Black Liberation Army soldiers, literally waged war against America by ambushing and murdering unsuspecting police officers who they considered to be enemy combatants. With the questioning of Acoli, accounts by participants of the confrontation begin to differ (see the witnesses section below). (May 3, 1973), "2 Die in Shootout; Militant Seized". Thomas "Blood" McCreary, a member of the BLA, is the largest series in the Black Liberation Army archive. [96] Judge Arnold Bauman denied the application, but directed another lawyer, Howard Jacobs, to defend Shakur while Williams remained the attorney of record. Assata Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, . "[159], Dr. David Spain, a pathologist from Brookdale Community College, testified that her bullet scars as well as X-rays supported her claim that her arms were raised, and that there was "no conceivable way" the first bullet could have hit Shakur's clavicle if her arm was down. Sex: Female Race: Black Citizenship: American Scars . After elementary school, Shakur moved back to Queens to live with her mother and stepfather (her mother had remarried); she attended Parsons Junior High School. [67] The motion (argued March 2)which also asked the court to require the production of memos, tapes, documents, and photographs of alleged COINTELPRO involvement from 1970 to 1973was denied.[67][135]. Shakur a former member of the Black Liberation Army had been injured during the shootout, which involved two other BLA members and State Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster, the latter of which was killed. Hershberger, James (March 24, 2006). [95] The new jury selection was marked by attempts by Williams to be relieved of her duties, owing to disagreements with Shakur as well as with Hilton's attorney. Assata Shakur was born as JoAnne Deborah Byron in 1947, but after getting deep into political activism and fighting to end oppression with the Black Panther Party she changed her "slave name" and adopted the . Assata Shakur and the Cuban Revolution After being liberated from a maximum security prison in New Jersey, Assata lived underground for five years. [235] Her autobiography is studied together with those of Angela Davis and Elaine Brown, the only women activists of the Black Power movement who have published book-length autobiographies. Their married life ended within a year; they divorced in December 1970. Kirsta, Alix (May 29, 1999), "A black and white case Investigation Joanne Chesimard". . [58][60] Recordings of Trooper Harper calling the dispatcher were played at the trials of both Acoli and Assata Shakur. One man involved in the killing was still wanted at the time of the arrests. [125], Shakur was acquitted after seven hours of jury deliberation on January 16, 1976,[122] and was immediately remanded back to New Jersey for the Turnpike trial. She escaped prison and fled . [67] Kunstler had previously been successful in subpoenaing Kelley and Church for the trials of American Indian Movement (AIM) members charged with murdering FBI agents. Assata Olugbala Shakur (born July 16, 1947), as JoAnne Deborah Byron , married name Chesimard is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army (BLA). Quick Reference. When a witness identified Shakur and Andrew Jackson from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) photographs, a 13-state alarm was issued three days after the attack. Krebs, Alan (February 3, 1978), "Notes on People". State correction officials disclosed in November 1979 that they had not run identity checks on Shakur's visitors[190] and that the three men and one woman who assisted in her escape had presented false identification to enter the prison's visitor room,[191] before which they were not searched. Numerous musicians have composed and recorded songs about her or dedicated to her: Digable Planets, The Underachievers and X-Clan have also recorded songs about Shakur. [243] In April 2017, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's foundation donated $25,000 to the group. Kamau Sadiki (born Fred W. X. Hilton), a co-defendant who shared a cell with Shakur during their trial for armed robbery in the Bronx (of which both were acquitted), is believed to be the father. "The Msgr. [51][52], According to Cleaver and Katsiaficas, the FBI and local police "initiated a national search-and-destroy mission for suspected BLA members, collaborating in stakeouts that were the products of intensive political repression and counterintelligence campaigns like NEWKILL". Three indictments were dismissed without trial. I just decided to move my car after I learned a little more . [71], Her defense team alleged that her medical care during this period was "substandard". - The Washington Post", "Black Liberation Army: Understanding - Monitoring - Controlling", "Joanne Chesimard First Woman Named to Most Wanted Terrorists List", "Wanted by the FBI Fugitive Joanne Deborah Chesimard", "FBI makes Joanne Chesimard the first woman to appear on most-wanted list", "Woman Shot in Struggle With Her Alleged Victim", "Death of cop Richard Rainey could have been due to 1981 shooting, could mean life in jail for shooter Abdul Majid", Jury in Chesimard Murder Trial Listens to State Police Radio Tapes, Chesimard Jury Asks Clarification of Assault Charges, Mrs. Chesimard, on Stand, Denies Having Weapon in Turnpike Shooting, Joanne Chesimard Is Acquitted In Robbery of a Bank in Queens, Doctor Testifies On Bullet Scars in Chesimard Trial, "Assata Shakur: from civil rights activist to FBI's most-wanted", Chesimard Murder Trial Opens in New Brunswick, "Raymond A. In 1970-1981 the black liberation army was in full force. Hanley, Robert (November 6, 1979). "[12], On May 2, 1973, at about 12:45a.m.,[58] Assata Shakur, along with Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Costan) and Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Squire), were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick for driving with a broken tail light by State Trooper James Harper, backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster in a second patrol vehicle. [81][82] Seven other BLA members were indicted by District Attorney Eugene Gold in connection with the series of holdups and shootings on the same day,[84] whoaccording to Goldrepresented the "top echelon" of the BLA as determined by a year-long investigation. [199], Shakur was in Cuba by 1984; in that year she was granted political asylum there. Following her parents' divorce in 1950, she moved with her mother and maternal grandparents to Wilmington, North Carolina. She then joined the BLA, a loosely knit offshoot of the Black Panthers, which engaged in an armed struggle against the US government through tactics such as robbing banks and killing police officers and drug dealers.[4]. [12], She was booked on charges of attempted robbery, felonious assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of a deadly weapon, then released on bail. [25] In 1987, Shakur confirmed to a journalist that there was a drug connection in this incident but refused to elaborate. [112] On April 26, while Shakur was pregnant,[108] New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne signed an extradition order to move Shakur to New Jersey to face two counts of attempted murder, attempted assault, and possession of dangerous weapons related to the alleged ambush; however, Shakur declined to waive her right to an extradition hearing, and asked for a full hearing before Middlesex County Court Judge John E. [166], After the Turnpike shootings, Shakur was briefly held at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility[167] in Yardville, Burlington County, New Jersey, and later moved to Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City[10] where she was kept in solitary confinement[168][169] for 21months. Assata Shakur was born JoAnne Bryon. [76], During an interview, Assata Shakur discussed her treatment by the police and medical staff at Middlesex General Hospital. Her aunt helped her to later earn a General Educational Development (GED) degree. On May 2, 1973, Assata was driving with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli on the New Jersey Turnpike when New Jersey state troopers stopped them. "Mrs. Chesimard Is Ousted Again as 2d Trial for Robbery Begins". Allen-Mills, Tony (May 27, 2007). [124] Shortly after deliberation began, the jury asked to see all the photographic exhibits taken from the surveillance footage. [244], In July 2017, the Women's March official Twitter feed celebrated Shakur's birthday, leading to criticism from some right-wing media outlets. [8] In 1950, Shakur's parents divorced and she moved with her grandparents to Wilmington, North Carolina. Assata had several warrants for her arrest on charges . According to initial police statements, at this point one or more of the suspects had begun firing with semiautomatic handguns, and Trooper Foerster fired four times before falling mortally wounded. [63] The prosecution argued that Assata had fired the bullets that had wounded Harper, while the defense argued that the now deceased Zayd had fired them. She escaped from prison in 1979 and later fled to Cuba in 1984, where she gained political asylum. Assata Olugbala Shakur is best known for her civil rights activism in the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. "[164] The case was delayed in being brought to trial as a result of an agreement between the governors of New York and New Jersey as to the priority of the various charges against Shakur. [206][207] The book was published by Lawrence Hill & Company in the United States and Canada but the copyright is held by Zed Books Ltd. of London due to "Son of Sam" laws, which restrict who can receive profits from a book. [48], On April 16, 1981, Shakur was allegedly in the back seat of a van connected with a burglary. Assata Olugbala Shakurpolitical activist, author, fugitive, and step-aunt of the famed, slain hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur was born JoAnne Deborah Bryon on July 16, 1947 in New York City, New York. An activist in black radical groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, Shakur was convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper in 1977, but supporters helped her escape prison and take refuge in Cuba. Assata Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) which operated as an underground militant revolutionary organization in the U.S. throughout the 1970s. [119][122], By the time she was retried in 1977, Acoli had already been convicted of shooting and murdering Foerster. Mar 24, 2017 at 5:05 pm. Sullivan, Joseph F. (February 24, 1977), "Chesimard Attorney Acts to Call Kelley; Wants F.B.I. Chesimard, a fugitive living in Cuba under the name Assata Shakur, was a member of the Black Liberation Army in 1973 when she shot and killed Trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop. ", "Trump calls on Cuba to return U.S. fugitives, including cop-killer Chesimard", "Like Water for Chocolate: Common's Recipe for Progressive Hip-Hop", "CUNY Chief Orders Names Stripped From Student Center", "First Amendment Violation Claim Proceeds Against College Over Removed Plaque", Two Scholarships Given New Names After Controversy, Superhero Inspiration for Course on 'Black Heroes', "Common Pulled From Kean University Commencement Speech After Police Complaints", "A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement", "Activists of every stripe unite in ICE civil disobedience", "Assata Shakur birthday honored by Women's March organizers", "When the 'Resistance' Gets Reprehensible", "Six months after the Women's March on Washington, the Resistance Revival has a message for Trump", "County pays $15K to FBI fugitive, part of Freeman Park land deal", The Cointelpro papers: documents from the FBI's secret wars against dissent in the United States, "New Most Wanted Terrorist Joanne Chesimard; First Woman Added to List," May 2, 2013, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Assata Shakur Speaks website in support of Shakur, "The Story of Joanne Chesimard," May 2003 editorial, NJLawman.com. ; in that year she was on her way to Baltimore for a days. 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