Joanne Chesimard, Former Black Liberation Army Member, Dies

Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, passed away on Friday. She was a member of the Black Liberation Army and had been convicted of killing a state trooper before fleeing to Cuba.

In 1977, Chesimard, then 29, was found guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the death of New Jersey state trooper Verner Forster and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Cuban Foreign Ministry confirmed her death, attributing it to “health issues and advanced age.”

On September 25, 2025, an official statement noted that American citizen Joanne Deborah Byron, known as Assata Shakur, died in Havana, Cuba.

As reported by the New York Times, Chesimard was involved in a shootout on May 2, 1973, after Trooper James Harper pulled over a white Pontiac with Vermont plates for having faulty taillights. After calling for backup, Trooper Forster responded but was shot during the incident. Chesimard was a passenger in the vehicle alongside driver Clark Squire and her former brother-in-law, James Costan.

The FBI reported that Chesimard was wanted in connection with multiple felonies, including bank robbery. During her trial in 1973, she made accusations against the judge for perceived racism, expressing her frustration openly.

Chesimard escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey in 1979, with reports suggesting two men assisted her in overpowering the guards. Subsequently, she was smuggled to Mexico and eventually made her way to Cuba in 1984, where she was granted political asylum by the Castro government.

In 2013, the FBI added her to its list of most wanted individuals, offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to her capture. Chesimard published an autobiography in 1987 and had reportedly engaged in teaching at a university in Cuba, largely evading extradition since her relocation.