United States Black Liberation Army member, Assata Shakur who lived in exile for decades after the 1973 Police killing conviction, have died in Cuba at the age of 78.
Assata Shakur, a prominent figure in the Black Liberation Army and one of the most wanted fugitives in the United States, has died in Cuba at the age of 78, Cuban authorities confirmed on Friday.
The Cuban foreign ministry said Shakur — born on July 16, 1947 in New York City, as Joanne Deborah Byron and also known as JoAnne Chesimard — passed away on September 25 in Havana due to health complications related to her advanced age.
Shakur was convicted in 1977 for the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, who was killed in a shootout during a routine traffic stop in 1973. She maintained her innocence, claiming she never fired a weapon and that her arms were raised when shots were fired.
Two years after her conviction, Shakur escaped from prison and fled the United States. By 1984, US authorities confirmed she was living in Cuba, where she was granted political asylum. Despite decades of diplomatic tension between Washington and Havana, she was never extradited.
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In 2013, the FBI placed Shakur on its list of Most Wanted Terrorists, the first woman ever to receive that designation, and offered a $1 million reward for her capture.
US officials have long accused Cuba of harboring fugitives. “The Cuban regime continues to provide safe haven for terrorists and criminals, including fugitives from the United States,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X in May, sharing photos of Shakur and Foerster.
Shakur’s story became emblematic of the radical political movements of the 1970s. As a member of the Black Liberation Army — a militant offshoot of the Black Panther Party — she was part of a group that carried out armed robberies, prison breaks, and shootouts with police. Cuba, meanwhile, became a refuge for several prominent Black activists and militants, including Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, who fled US prosecution during the same era.
Her supporters celebrated her as a symbol of resistance against systemic racism and political persecution, while critics viewed her as an unrepentant cop killer.
Shakur’s death closes a decades-long chapter in one of the most high-profile fugitive cases in US history, leaving behind a complex legacy that continues to divide opinion on both sides of the Florida Straits.
