ASSATA SHAKUR

'Assata Shakur'^[1] (July 16, 1947 ), born 'Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard', is an African-American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. In 1977 she was convicted of several felonies in relation to the 1973 slayings of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and fellow BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur.
She escaped from prison in 1979 and has been living in Cuba with political asylum since 1984. Since May 2, 2005, she has been classified as a "domestic terrorist" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has offered a $1 million reward for assistance in her capture.
She is the non-biological^[2] godmother of hip hop artist Tupac Shakur.^[3]

Contents

Early life

New Jersey Turnpike shootout

Trials

Defense attorneys

Witnesses

Medical evidence

Forensic evidence

Police reports

Imprisonment

Escape and political asylum in Cuba

Extradition attempts

Legacy

References

Notes

External links

Early life

Shakur was born in New York City on July 16, 1947, or, according to the FBI, August 19, 1952, but spent most of her childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina^[4] until her family relocated to Queens when she was a teenager. She attended Borough of Manhattan Community College and City College of New York in the mid 1960s, where she was involved in many political activities. After graduation, Shakur became involved in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.^[5] Shakur and others^[6][7][8] claim that she was targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's COINTELPRO as a result of her involvement with these organizations.
Msgr. John Powis alleged that Shakur was involved in an armed robbery at his Our Lady of the Presentation church in Brownsville, Brooklyn on September 14, 1972 based on FBI photographs; Shakur was not charged with this robbery and the only person arrested for it was acquitted.^[9]
In 1972, Shakur was made the subject of a nationwide manhunt after the F.B.I. alleged that she was the "revolutionary mother hen" of a Black Liberation Army cell which had conducted a "series of cold-blooded murders of New York City police officers." After her capture, however, Shakur was charged with none of the killings which had made her the subject of the manhunt.

New Jersey Turnpike shootout

Mugshot of Shakur, taken on May 2, 1973

On May 2, 1973, just after midnight, Shakur, at that time a member of the Black Liberation Army and no longer a member of the Black Panther Party, along with Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F Coston) and Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Squire), was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick by State Trooper James Harper and backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster, for driving with a broken taillight, only 200 yards away from a police administration building. Accounts of the confrontation differ (see the witnesses section below), but Zayd Shakur and Trooper Foerester were killed in the ensuing shootout, and Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were injured.
Acoli then drove the car (a white Pontiac LeMans with Vermont license plates)—which contained Assata, who was wounded, and Zayd, who was dead—several miles down the road, where Assata Shakur was apprehended. Acoli then exited the car and fled into the woods and was captured after a manhunt the following day.^[10]

Trials

Between 1973 and 1977, in New York and New Jersey, Shakur was indicted ten times, resulting in seven different criminal trials, including two bank robberies, the kidnapping of a Brooklyn heroin dealer, attempted murder of two Queens police officers steming from a January 23, 1973 failed ambush, and the murder of a New Jersey state trooper.^[11][12] Of these trials, three resulted in acquittals, one in a hung jury, and two in dismissals. In one of her bank robbery trials, the jury determined that a widely-circulated F.B.I. photo allegedly showing her participating in the robbery was not her. In November 1974, New York State Superior Court Justice Peter Farrell dismissed the attempted murder indictment because of insufficient evidence;^[13] for this trial, Shakur had been extradited to New York City on May 16.^[14] In October 1977, New York State Superior Court Justice John Starkey dropped murder and robbery charges against Shakur related to the hold up of a Brooklyn club in which Richard Nelson was killed on the grounds that the state had delayed too long in bringing her to trial.^[15]
Judge Leon Gerofsky ordered a change of venue in 1973 to Morris County, New Jersey, saying "it was almost impossible to obtain a jury here comprised of people willing to accept the responsibility of impartiality so that defendants will be protected from transitory passion and prejudice."^[16] Shakur was originally slated to be tried together with Acoli, but the trials were separated due to her pregnancy, and hers resulted in a mistrial in 1974 because of the possibility of miscarriage; Shakur was hospitalized on February 1.^[17][18] By the time her 1977 trial started, Acoli had already been convicted of firing the bullets which killed Trooper Foerster, and a total of 289 articles had been published in the local press, most portraying Shakur as dangerous and mentioning her alleged involvement in the various violent crimes for which she had not been convicted. Polls of residents in Middlesex County showed that 83% knew her identity and 70% said she was guilty.
After a widely-publicized nine-week trial, on March 25, 1977—back in Middlesex County, New Jersey—Shakur was convicted as an accomplice in the murders of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and Zayd Shakur and possession of weapons, as well as of assault and attempted murder of Trooper Harper. Although the prosecution could not prove that Shakur fired the shots that killed either Trooper Foerester or Zayd Shakur, being an accomplice to murder carries an equivalent life sentence under New Jersey law.^[19] New Jersey Superior Court Judge Theodore Appleby sentenced her to 26 to 33 years in state prison for assault and weapons charges which was to be served consecutively with her mandatory life sentence for being an accomplice to the murders.^[20]
All of the jury members were white^[21] and five had personal ties to State Troopers (one girlfriend, two nephews, and two friends).^[22][23] One prospective juror was dismissed for reading ''Target Blue'', a book by a former New York City Deputy Police Commander, which dealt in part with Shakur and had been left in the jury assembly room.^[24] Shakur's defense attorney's were not allowed to question prospective jurors. Shakur's attorney's sought a new trial on the grounds that one jury member, John McGovern, had violated the jury's sequestration order.^[25] McGovern later sued Kunstler for defamation^[26] after Judge Appleby rejected Kunstler's claim that he had violated the order.^[27] In September 1977, New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne vetoed a bill to give the Morris County sheriff $7,491 for overtime expenses incurred in guarding Shakur's jury.^[28]
The judge did not allow evidence of alleged COINTELPRO involvement to be admitted during her trial. Shakur's defense attorney's had attempted to subpoena FBI Director Clarence Kelley, Senator Frank Church and other Federal and New York law enforcement officials to testify about the Counter Intelligence Program, which they alleged was designed to harass and disrupt black activist organizations.^[29]
Shakur's attorney's had also successfully asked a 10-judge panel of the Federal Philadelphia Court of Appeals to order that sessions for her murder trial not be held on Fridays because of Black Muslim Sabbath, although Appeals Court rejected her plea to move the murder trial to a federal court.^[30][31]

Alleged crime	Court	Arraignment	Trial	Disposition
Armed robbery of Hilton Hotel, New York City April 5, 1971	N.Y. State Supreme Court, County of New York	November 22, 1977	None	Dismissed
Bank robbery in Queens August 23, 1971	U.S. Eastern District, Brooklyn	July 20, 1973	January 5, 1976—January 16, 1976	Acquitted
Bank robbery in Bronx September 1, 1972	U.S. Southern District, New York City	August 1, 1973	December 3, 1973—December 14, 1973 December 19, 1973—December 28, 1973	Hung jury Acquitted
Kidnapping of drug dealer December 28, 1972	N.Y. State Supreme Court, County of Kings	May 30, 1974	September 6, 1975—December 19, 1975	Acquitted
Murder of a drug dealer January 2, 1973	N.Y. State Supreme Court, County of New York	May 29, 1974	None	Dismissed
Ambush and attempted murder of policemen January 23, 1973	N.Y. State Supreme Court, County of Queens	May 11, 1974	None	Dismissed
Murder of Trooper on New Jersey Turnpike May 2, 1973	Superior Court, Middlesex County	May 3, 1973	October 9, 1973—October 23, 1973 January 1, 1974—February 1, 1974 January 15, 1977—March 25, 1977	Change of venue Mistrial due to pregnancy Convicted

Defense attorneys

Shakur's defense attorneys included Lennox Hinds, William Kunstler, Evelyn Williams, Bob Bloom, Florynce Kennedy, Ray Brown, and Stanley Cohen, who died of unknown causes early on in Shakur's last trial.^[32]
Her attorneys, in particular Lennox Hinds, were often held in contempt of court, which the National Conference of Black Lawyers cited as an example of systemic bias in the judicial system.^[33] The New Jersey Legal Ethics Committee also investigated complaints against Hinds for comparing Shakur's murder trial to "legalized lynching"^[34] undertaken by a "kangaroo court." Judge Appleby also threatened Kunstler with dismissal and contempt of court after he delivered an October 21, 1976 speech at Rutgers University which in part discussed the upcoming trial,^[35] but later ruled that Kunstler could represent Shakur.^[36] Until obtaining a court order, Williams was forced to strip naked and undergo a body search before each of her visits with Shakur—during which Shakur was shackled to a bed by both ankles.
Judge Appleby also refused to investigate a burglary of her defense counsel's office which resulted in the disappearance of trial documents.

Witnesses

Sundiata Acoli, Assata Shakur, Trooper Harper, and a New Jersey Turnpike driver who saw part of the incident were the only surviving witnesses.^[37]
Acoli did not testify or make any pre-trial statements, nor did he testify in his own trial or give a statement to the police.^[38] The driver traveling North on the turnpike testified that he had seen a State Trooper struggling with a Black man between a white vehicle and a State Trooper car, whose revolving lights illuminated the area.
Shakur testified that Trooper Harper shot her after she raised her arms to comply with his demand, the second shot hitting her in the back as she was turning to avoid it, and that she climbed into the backseat of the Pontiac which Acoli drove five miles down the road and parked, and remained there until State Troopers dragged her onto the road.
Trooper Harper's three official reports state that after he stopped the Pontiac, he ordered Acoli to the back of the vehicle for Trooper Foerster—who had arrived on the scene—to examine his driver's license, and that after Acoli complied and as he was looking inside the vehicle to examine the registration, Trooper Foerster yelled and held up an ammunition clip, as Shakur simultaneously reached into her red pocketbook, pulled out a nine-millimeter weapon and fired at him. Trooper Harper's reports then state that he ran to the rear of his car and shot at Assata Shakur who had exited the vehicle and was firing from a crouched position next to the vehicle.
Under cross-examination at both Acoli and Shakur's trials, Trooper Harper admitted to having lied in these reports and in his Grand Jury testimony about Trooper Foerster yelling and showing him an ammunition clip, about seeing Shakur holding a pocketbook or a gun inside the vehicle, and about Shakur shooting at him from the car.

Medical evidence

A key element of Shakur's defense was medical testimony meant to demonstrate that she was shot with her hands up and that she would have been subsequently unable to fire a weapon. A neurologist testified that the median nerve in Shakur's right arm was severed by the second bullet, making her unable to pull a trigger.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Arthur Turner Davidson, Associate Professor of Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, testified that the wounds in her upper arms, armpit and chest, and severed median nerve that instantly paralysed her right arm, would only have been caused if both arms were raised, and that to sustain such injuries while crouching and firing a weapon "would be anatomically impossible."^[39]
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.^[40][41]
Judge Appleby eventually cut off funds for expert defense testimony.

Forensic evidence

Neutron activation analysis administered after the shootout showed no gun powder residue on Shakur's fingers; her fingerprints were not found on any weapon at the scene, according to forensic analysis performed at the Trenton, New Jersey crime lab and the F.B.I. crime labs in Washington, D.C..^[42]

Police reports

According to tape recordings and police reports made several hours after the shoot-out, when Harper returned on foot to the administration building 200 yards away, he did report Foerster's presence at the scene; no one at headquarters knew of Foerster's involvement in the shoot-out until his body was discovered beside his patrol car, more than an hour later.

Imprisonment

After the Turnpike shootings, Shakur was imprisoned in New Jersey State Reception and Correction center^[43] in Yardville, Middlesex County, New Jersey and later moved to Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City where she was kept in solitary confinement.^[44][45] Sheriff Joseph DeMarino lied to the press about the exact date of her transfer to Clinton State Correctional Institute for "security reasons."^[46] She was also transferred from Clinton Prison for Women to the Yardville Youth Correction and Reception Center in New Jersey, where she was the only female inmate,^[47] for "security reasons."^[48] On May 6, 1977, Trenton Federal District Court Judge Clarkson Fisher denied Shakur's request for a transfer from the all-male facility to Clinton Correctional Facility.^[49] Shakur's only daughter, Kakuya Shakur, was conceived during her trial and born in September 1974^[50] at the fortified psychiatric ward at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.^[51] Kamau Sadiki (a.k.a. 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.
On April 8, 1978, Shakur was transferred to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia where she met Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebrón and Mary Alice, a Catholic nun, who introduced Shakur to the concept of liberation theology.^[52] 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 Fromme, followers of Charles Manson.^[53]
On March 31, 1978,^[54], after the Maximum Security Unit at Alderson was closed, Shakur was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. A 1979 special UN investigation into human rights abuses of political prisoners cited Shakur as "one of the worst cases" of such abuses and including her in a "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."^[55]

Escape and political asylum in Cuba

On November 2, 1979 she escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, after members of the Black Liberation Army conducted an armed action. No one, including the guards, was injured during the prison break. Charged with assisting in her escape was her brother, Mutulu Shakur, and Silvia Baraldini; Ronald Boyd Hill was also held on charges related to the escape.^[56] In part for his role in the event, Mutulu was named on July 23, 1982 as the 380th addition to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, where he remained for the next four years until his capture in 1986. State correction officials disclosed in November 1979 that they had not run identity checks on Shakur's visitors^[57] and that the three men and one woman who assisted in her escape had presented false identification to enter the prison's visitor room,^[58] before which they were not searched.
After her escape, Assata lived as a fugitive for the next several years. The F.B.I. circulated "wanted" posters throughout the New York-New Jersey area; her supporters hung "Assata Shakur is welcome here" posters in response.^[59] In July 1980, FBI director William Webster said that the search for Shakur had been frustrated by residents' refusal to cooperate, and the ''New York Times'' reported that his public commitments to protect civil liberties had been "clouded" by "apparently crude sweeps" through Harlem buildings, in search of Shakur.^[60] In particular, one pre-dawn April 20, 1980 raid on 92 Morningside Avenue, during which FBI agents armed with shotguns and machine guns broke down doors, and rummaged through the building for several hours while preventing residents from leaving, was perceived by residents as having "racist overtones."^[61] In October 1980, New Jersey and New York City Police denied published reports that they had declined to raid a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn building where Shakur was suspected to be hiding for fear of provoking a racial incident.^[62]

''Assata: An Autobiography''

She fled to Cuba in 1984 where she was granted political asylum, saying she had never received a fair trial. In 1985 she was reunited with her daughter, Kakuya, who had previously been raised by Shakur's mother in New York. She published ''Assata: An Autobiography'', which was written in Cuba, in 1987. Her autobiography has been cited in relation to critical legal studies^[63] and critical race theory.^[64]

Extradition attempts

In 1997, Carl Williams, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police wrote a letter to the Pope John Paul II asking him to raise the issue of Shakur's extradition during his talks with President Fidel Castro.^[65] During the pope's visit to Cuba in 1998, Shakur agreed to an interview with NBC journalist Ralph Penza.^[66] Shakur later published an extensive criticism of the NBC segment, which interpliced footage of Trooper Foerster's grieving widow with an FBI photo connected to a bank robbery of which Shakur had been acquitted.^[67] On March 10, 1998—the 85th anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman—New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman asked Attorney General Janet Reno to do whatever it takes to return Shakur from Cuba.^[68] Later in 1998, U.S. media widely reported claims that the United States State Department had offered to lift the Cuban embargo in exchange for the return of ninety U.S. political exiles, including Shakur.^[69]
In 1998, the United States Congress passed a resolution asking Cuba for her "return"; House Concurrent Resolution 254 passed 371-0 in the House and by unanimous consent in the Senate.^[70] Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus later explained that they were against her extradition, but mistakenly voted for the bill which was placed on the accelerated suspension calendar, generally reserved for non-controversial legislation.^[71] Representative Maxine Waters of California, who voted for the resolution, later explained her opposition, calling COINTELPRO "illegal, clandestine political persecution."
On May 2, 2005, the thirty-second anniversary of the Turnpike shootings, the F.B.I. classified her as a "domestic terrorist", increasing the reward for assistance in her capture to $1 million,^[72] the largest reward placed on an individual in the history of New Jersey. New Jersey State Police superintendent Rick Fuentes said "she is now 120 pounds of money." New York City Councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther, has called for the bounty to be rescinded.^[73]
The New Jersey State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation each still have an agent officially assigned to her case.^[74]

Legacy

A documentary film about Shakur, "Eyes of the Rainbow," written and directed by Gloria Rolando, appeared in 1997.
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. Hip-hop artist Common recorded a tribute to Shakur, "A Song for Assata," on his album ''Like Water for Chocolate'', after traveling to Havana to meet with Shakur personally.^[75] Rapper Paris recorded a similar "Assata's Song."
On December 12, 2006, the Chancellor of the City University of New York, Matthew Goldstein, directed City College's president, Gregory H. Williams, to remove the "unauthorized and inappropriate" designation of the "Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community and Student Center," which was named by students in 1989, when a student group won the right to use the lounge after a campus shutdown over proposed tuition increases.^[76] In 1995, Manhattan Community College renamed a scholarship which had previously been named for Shakur, following controversy.^[77]

References

★ Churchill, Ward and James Vander Wall. 2002. ''The Cointelpro papers: documents from the FBI's secret wars against dissent in the United States''. South End Press. ISBN 0896086488.

★ James, Joy. 2003. ''Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion''. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742520277.

★ Scheffler, Judith A. 2002. ''Wall Tappings: An International Anthology of Women's Prison Writings, 200 to the Present''. Feminist Press. ISBN 1558612734.

★ Shakur, Assata. 1987 (New edition November 1, 1999). ''Assata: An Autobiography''. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. ISBN 1556520743.

★ Williams, Evelyn. 1993. ''Inadmissible Evidence: The Story of the African-American Trial Lawyer who Defended the Black Liberation Army''. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Lawrence Hill Books.

Notes

As early as 1973, Shakur referred to Joannne Chesimard as her "slave name."^[78]

1. ''New York Times''. March 31, 1978. Section 2; Page 17, Column 3.
2. Ryan, Andrew J. "Tupac Shakur: Keeping it Real vs. Keeping it Right."
3. Williams, Houston. May 2, 2005. "U.S. Government Declares Million Bounty For Assata Shakur, Tupac's Godmother." ''All Hip Hop News''.
4. Scheffler, p. 203.
5. James, Matthew Thomas. Joy James (Ed.). 2005. ''The New Abolitionists: (Neo)slave Narratives And Contemporary Prison Writings''. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791464857. p. 77.
6. Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. 2004. ''Voices of a People's History of the United States''. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1583226281. p. 470.
7. Ward Churchill and James Vander Wall. p. 308
8. Manning Marable and Leith Mullings. 2003. ''Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: an African American Anthology''. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 084768346X. p. 529-530.
9. Daly, Michael. 2006, December 13. "The Msgr. & the Militant." ''New York Daily News''.
10. Marpessa Kupendua. 1998, January 28. "Sundiatta Acoli." ''Revolutionary Worker''. No. 94.
11. Taylor, Mark Lewis. 1999, January 17. "Flight From Justice." ''New York Times''. Section 14NJ; Page 15; Column 1.
12. Nelson, Jim. 1988, February 29. The Soul Survivor; Assata Shakur on the Making of a Radical." ''The Washington Post''. p. B6.
13. ''New York Times''. November 2, 1974. Page 36, Column 4.
14. ''New York Times''. May 7, 1974. Page 96, Column 5.
15. Max H. Seigel. October 26, 1977. ''New York Times''. Page 25, Column 5.
16. James Hershberger. March 24, 2006. "Assata Shakur: Case of oppression in U.S." ''Daily Toreador''.
17. ''New York Times''. February 2, 1974. Page 63, Column 6.
18. Atty. Lennox Hinds. 1998, October 26. "The injustice of the trial." ''Covert Action Quarterly''.
19. Alix Kirsta. May 29, 1999. "A black and white case - Investigation - Joanne Chesimard." ''The Times''.
20. ''New York Times''. April 26, 1977. Page 83, Column 4.
21. ''New York Times''. February 15, 1977. Page 67, Column 5.
22. Laura Browder. 2006. ''Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America''. UNC Press. ISBN 080783050X. p. 157.
23. James, Joy. p. 144.
24. ''New York Times''. January 25, 1974. Page 71, Column 7.
25. ''New York Times''. April 20, 1977. Section 2, Page 23, Column 3.
26. Alan Krebs. February 3, 1978. ''New York Times''. Page 16, Column 5.
27. ''New York Times''. May 10, 1977. Page 71, Column 2.
28. Martin Waldron. September 5, 1977. ''New York Times''. Page 35, Column 2.
29. Joseph F. Sullivan. February 24, 1977. ''New York Times''. Page 76, Column 1.
30. Donald Janson. February 19, 1977. ''New York Times'' Page 51, Column 1.
31. ''New York Times''. January 27, 1977. Page 76, Column 2.
32. ''Assata'', p. 247.
33. ''New York Times''. May 9, 1977. Page 67, Column 6.
34. ''New York Times''. March 2, 1977. Section 2, Page 21, Column 2.
35. Martin Waldron. December 3, 1976. ''New York Times''. Section 2, Page 21, Column 1.
36. ''New York Times''. December 15, 1976. Section 2, Page 53, Column 1.
37. Evelyn A. Williams. 2005, June 25. "Statement of Facts in the New Jersey trial of Assata Shakur."
38. Jonathan Schuppe. February 8, 2004. "In parole bid, Chesimard cohort denies killing trooper." ''The Star-Ledger''.
39. Walter H. Waggoner. March 17, 1977. ''New York Times''. Section 2, Page 20, Column 3.
40. Joseph F. Sullivan. March 18, 1977. ''New York Times''. Section 2, Page 24, Column 1.
41. Joy James and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. 2000. ''The Black Feminist Reader''. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0631210075. p. 279.
42. Ron Howell. June 7, 1998. "Revolutionary on Ice: Assata Shakur's Cuban Exile." Newsday.
43. Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wal. p. 410.
44. Muhammad, Nisa Islam. 2005, May 16. "Assata: The stakes are raised." ''Final Call News''.
45. ''New York Times''. April 12, 1977. Page 71, Column 2.
46. ''New York Times''. March 31, 1977. Section 2, Page 6, Column 3.
47. Albin Krebs. April 8, 1978. ''New York Times''. Page 21, Column 3.
48. Walter H. Waggoner. April 8, 1977. ''New York Times''. Section 2, Page 13, Column 4.
49. ''New York Times''. May 6, 1977. Section 2, Page 4, Column 3.
50. Joyce Jensen. September 15, 1974. ''New York Times''. Section 4, Page 13, Column 1.
51. ''New York Times''. September 1, 1974. Page 40, Column 7.
52. Scheffler, p. 206.
53. Scheffler, p. 204.
54. ''New York Times''. March 31, 1978. Section 2, Page 17, Column 3.
55. ''Covert Action Quarterly''. October 26, 1998. "The U.N. Petition."
56. ''New York Times''. November 29, 1979. Section 2, Page 4, Column 4.
57. Robert Hanley. November 6, 1979. ''New York Times''. Section 2, Page 2, Column 1.
58. Robert Hanley. November 4, 1979. ''New York Times''. Page 31, Column 6.
59. Cleaver, Kathleen. 2005, August. "The Fugitive." ''Essesnce''.
60. ''New York Times''. July 2, 1980. "A Cloud Over the New FBI." Section A, Page 26, Column 1.
61. ''New York Times''. June 11, 1980. "Our tinderboxes for radical violence." Section A, Page 30, Column 4.
62. ''New York Times''. October 15, 1980. "The City; Chesimard Report Called Unfounded." Section B, Page 3, Column 1.
63. Farley, Anthony Paul. 2001, March. "SYMPOSIUM CRITICAL LEGAL HISTORIES: LILIES OF THE FIELD: A CRITIQUE OF ADJUDICATION." 22 Cardozo L. Rev. 1013.
64. Farley, Anthony Paul. 2005, Fall. "GOING BACK TO CLASS? THE REEMERGENCE OF CLASS IN CRITICAL RACE THEORY SYMPOSIUM: ESSAY: ACCUMULATION." 11 Mich. J. Race & L. 51. The book does not give a detailed account of the events on the New Jersey Turnpike, except saying that the jury "Convicted a woman with her hands up!"
Shakur, to this day, maintains her innocence, and her writings to this effect have been widely circulated on the internet.''Chronic Magazine''. " million bounty on Tupac's godmother."
65. Chicago Sun Times. 1997, December 28. "N.J. cops enlist pope; Seek help in getting fugitive out of Cuba." p. 34.
66. Shakur, Assata. "An Open Letter from Assata." p. 2.
67. Assata Shakur and Ida E. Lewis. November 1, 2000. "Assata Shakur: Profiled and on the Run." ''New Crisis''. Vol. 107, Issue 6.
68. Brath, Elombe. 1998, March 13. "N.J. Bloodhounds on Assata's Trail." ''NY Daily Challenge''.
69. James, Joy. p. 115.
70. House Concurrent Resolution 254.
71. Waters, Maxine. 1998, September 29. "Congresswoman Waters issues statement on U.S. Freedom Fighter Assata Shakur."
72. Cleaver, Kathleen. 2005. "The Fugitive: Why has the FBI placed a million-dollar bounty on Assata Shakur?."
73. Wayne Parry. May 24, 2005. "NY councilman plans rally against Chesimard bounty." AP.
74. Sam Wood. May 15, 2006. "Always a priority: Fugitive cop-killers: As a N.J. case shows, law officers never give up - despite even decades and foreign obstacles." ''Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News''.
75. Like Water for Chocolate: Common's Recipe for Progressive Hip-Hop
76. Arenson, Karen W. 2006, December 13. "CUNY Chief Orders Names Stripped From Student Center." ''New York Times''.
77. Honan, William H. 1995, April 12. "Two Scholarships Given New Names After Controversy." ''New York Times''. Section B; Page 11; Column 4.
78. William L. Van Deburg. 1997. ''Modern Black Nationalism: From Marcus Garvey to Louis Farrakhan''. NYU Press. ISBN 0814787894. p. 269.

External links

★ www.AssataShakur.Org

★ www.PanAfrican.TV interviews

★ Wanted by the FBI - Joanne Deborah Chesimard

★ New Jersey State Police Wanted Page

★ From the Law Enforcement Perspective