Havana (AFP) – Cuba on Friday announced the death of Assata Shakur, a US citizen and Black militant who escaped prison and lived as a fugitive for decades after being convicted of killing a police officer.
“On September 25, 2025, the American citizen Joanne Deborah Byron, alias Assata Shakur, died in Havana, Cuba, due to health problems and her advanced age,” Cuba’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement on its website. Also known as JoAnne Chesimard, she died at the age of 78. She was a member of the Black Liberation Army, a Black nationalist militant organization that largely operated in the United States in the 1970s.
She was accused, with two others, of killing a New Jersey state trooper during a shootout at a routine traffic stop in 1973. She briefly escaped but was arrested, charged and convicted in 1977 with murder, and sentenced to life in prison. Shakur maintained her innocence, saying that she never held a gun that morning and her arms were in the air when shots were fired.
Two years later, in 1979, she managed to escape again. FBI agents spotted her in Cuba in 1984, but she was never extradited to the US. In 2013, federal officials added her to their list of most wanted terrorists, making her the first woman featured on the list. The FBI was offering a $1 million reward for information leading to her capture.
“The Cuban regime continues to provide safe haven for terrorists and criminals, including fugitives from the United States,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X in May, pledging “our unwavering commitment to holding the Cuban regime accountable.” The post featured a picture of Shakur and the slain policeman, Werner Foerster.
Cuba became a destination for self-exiled Black militants, serving as haven to Black Panther Party leaders Huey Newton and Leroy Eldridge Cleaver while they were pursued by US justice officials.
© 2024 AFP
