And so it begins. One day after President Barack Obama’s made history in becoming the first President to visit Cuba in 80 years, and one day after his departure from Cuba, the questions regarding Assata Shakur continue to arise. After the President’s efforts to restore relations with this Cuba, the questions keep coming regarding the political prisoners that may or may not still be living within the country. Today, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey demanded that the return of Assata Shakur to America take precedent over any other political or business endeavors with the small, communist country. Christie penned this open letter via The Record:
For more than three decades, the Cuban government has given safe harbor and refuge to a domestic terrorist – a cop killer who was duly tried and convicted by a jury of her peers, sentenced to imprisonment, and who fled justice rather than pay for her crimes. Every day that she remains at large from justice has been a travesty to her victims’ families and the memory of Trooper Foerster.
Having drawn attention to these restored relations with no less than a presidential trip but without any mention of the fugitives harbored by Cuba, I urge the president to do what common sense and decency requires – that he demand the return of convicted murderer Joanne Chesimard, who stands remorseless and free after the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of a New Jersey State Trooper and the serious wounding of another.
In an open letter on AssataShakur.org, Shakur still maintains that she is innocent of the crimes she is being accused of conspiring with her associates froom the Black Panther Party. Cuba has always taken a firm stance of not having any political prisoners and they have also been adamant about not allowing the U.S. government to come and take Assata Shakur back to the states.
Shakur has been living in exile since 1979, residing in Cuba since 1984. She, along with the worlds most dangerous terrorists, remains on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $2 million bounty on her head – although she has continued to proclaim her innocence.
While Christie demands that she be returned because she was convicted by a ‘jury of her peers’, concerns still linger from many in America for her safety. Many who believe that she was not convicted by a jury of her peers, but by an all-white jury, during the darkest times of the civil rights movement. People today, now understand COINTELPRO and other secret operations that were used against blacks during the Civil Rights era in order to criminalize them and their efforts. Just this week, former President Nixon aide, John D. Ehrlichman, admitted “the War On Drugs” was created to target black people. Because of illegal and criminal tactics used by the government, many Americans have a difficult time supporting the return of Shakur, believing that as a prominent figure in the Black Panther movement, she too may have been framed for murder. With relations between the U.S. and Cuba improving, the public can only continue to watch as the pressure to capture Assata forges ahead.
As of today, the White House has not responded to Christie’s comments.
Source
FBI.gov
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