assata shakur black liberation armyassata shakur black liberation army

[70], With gunshot wounds in both arms and a shoulder, Assata Shakur was moved to Middlesex General Hospital under "heavy guard" and was reported to be in "serious condition". [107], Before jury selection was complete, it was discovered that Shakur was pregnant. [89] While in the holding pen, they listened to the proceedings over loudspeakers. Parry, Wayne (May 24, 2005), "NY councilman plans rally against Chesimard bounty". At least 12 aging members of the Black Panthers are still imprisoned in the US. Assata spent six and a half years in prison under brutal circumstances before escaping out of the maximum security wing of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey in 1979 and moving to . [64] A shootout ensued in which Trooper Foerster was shot twice in the head with his own gun and killed,[59][64] Zayd Shakur was killed, and Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were wounded. [134] All of the 15 jurorsten women and five menwere white, and most were under thirty years old. [53] The JTTF would later serve as the "coordinating body in the search for Assata and the renewed campaign to smash the BLA", after her escape from prison. "Neurosurgeon's Testimony Backs Mrs. Chesimard". [9] In July 1973, after being indicted by a grand jury, Shakur pleaded not guilty in Federal Court in Brooklyn to an indictment related to a $7,700 robbery of the Bankers Trust Company bank in Queens on August 31, 1971. [165] Shakur was accused of attempting to rob a Michigan man staying at the hotel of $250 of cash and personal property. Wilfredo, Cancio Isla (December 18, 2007). Three indictments were dismissed without trial. [177], On February 20, 1979,[178] after the Maximum Security Unit at Alderson was closed,[176] Shakur was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. [237], Black NJ State Trooper Anthony Reed (who has left the force) sued the police force because, among other things, persons had hung posters of Shakur, altered to include Reed's badge number, in a Newark barracks. [105] New Jersey Superior Court Judge Leon Gerofsky ordered a change of venue in 1973 from Middlesex to Morris County, New Jersey, saying "it was almost impossible to obtain a jury here comprising people willing to accept the responsibility of impartiality so that defendants will be protected from transitory passion and prejudice. [155] Judge Appleby rejected Kunstler's claim that the juror had violated the order. [119] Judge Jacob Mishlerset set a tentative trial date of November 5 that year. [179] Hinds argues that "in the history of New Jersey, no woman pretrial detainee or prisoner has ever been treated as she was, continuously confined in a men's prison, under twenty-four-hour surveillance of her most intimate functions, without intellectual sustenance, adequate medical attention, and exercise, and without the company of other women for all the years she was in custody". He felt it was intended to insult him, as she had killed an officer, and was "racist in nature". (December 13, 1973), "Chesimard Trial Goes To The Jury". "[116], Shakur was indicted on May 30, 1974, on the charge of having robbed a Brooklyn bar and kidnapping bartender James E. Freeman for ransom. [145], Judge Appleby also threatened Kunstler with dismissal and contempt of court after he delivered an October 21, 1976, speech at nearby Rutgers University that in part discussed the upcoming trial,[146] but later ruled that Kunstler could represent Shakur. "[221] The bounty announcement reportedly caused Shakur to "drop out of sight" after having previously lived relatively openly (including having her home telephone number listed in her local telephone directory). Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, was convicted in 1977 for the murder of a state trooper during a shootout in New Jersey. Trump specifically called for the return of "the cop-killer Joanne Chesimard". Also involved in the shootout were New Jersey State Troopers Werner Foerster and James Harper and BLA members Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur. "[12], On May 2, 1973, at about 12:45a.m.,[58] Assata Shakur, along with Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Costan) and Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Squire), were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick for driving with a broken tail light by State Trooper James Harper, backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster in a second patrol vehicle. Pace, Eric (December 27, 1971). [66] According to the testimony of State Police investigators, two jammed semi-automatic pistols were discovered near Foerster's body. Throughout the 1970s, she was indicted nearly a. Assata had several warrants for her arrest on charges . (December 12, 1973). Quick Reference. [164] Three other defendants were indicted in relation to the same holdup: Melvin Kearney, who died in 1976 from an eight-floor fall while trying to escape from the Brooklyn House of Detention, Twymon Myers, who was killed by police while a fugitive, and Andrew Jackson, the charges against whom were dismissed when two prosecution witnesses could not identify him in a lineup. "[242], The Chicago Black activist group Assata's Daughters is named in her honor. Assata Shakur is Tupac Shakur's godmother Assata Shakur was the de facto leader of the Black Liberation Army in the early 1970s. Black militancy: notes from the underground. [149] The reports then state that after Acoli complied, and as Harper was looking inside the vehicle to examine the registration, Trooper Foerster yelled and held up an ammunition magazine as Shakur simultaneously reached into her red pocketbook, pulled out a 9mm handgun and fired at him. [123], One bank employee testified that Shakur was one of the bank robbers, but three other bank employees (including two tellers) testified that they were uncertain. She escaped from prison in 1979 and later fled to Cuba in 1984, where she gained political asylum. [197] In October 1980, New Jersey and New York City Police denied published reports that they had declined to raid a BedfordStuyvesant, Brooklyn building where Shakur was suspected to be hiding for fear of provoking a racial incident. [134], One prospective juror was dismissed for reading Target Blue,[153] a book by Robert Daley, a former New York City Deputy Police Commander, which dealt in part with Shakur and had been left in the jury assembly room. Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947[a]) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). The FBI circulated wanted posters throughout the New York New Jersey area; her supporters hung "Assata Shakur is Welcome Here" posters in response. Shakur, Assata, and Lewis, Ida E. (November 1, 2000). "Assata Shakur: Case of oppression in U.S". She was born in 1947 in New York City, JoAnne Deborah Byron. [102] During the retrial, the defendants repeatedly left or were thrown out of the courtroom. "[225] In 2013, the FBI announced it had added Shakur to its list of 'most wanted terrorists', the first time that a woman was so designated. After she ran away from home several times, her aunt, who would later act as one of her lawyers, took her in. [63][b] Trooper Harper asked the driver for identification, noticed a discrepancy, asked him to get out of the car, and questioned him at the rear of the vehicle.[58]. "Bounty hunt for US cop killer on Cuba". "[79] Morris County, had a far smaller black population than Middlesex County. [87] White and Rivers testified that Shakur had guarded one of the doors with a .357 magnum pistol and that Sadiki had served as a lookout and drove the getaway truck during the robbery; neither White nor Rivers was cross-examined due to the defense attorney's refusal to participate in the trial. By Mirinda Crissman July 15, 2022 In honor of Assata Shakur's 75th birthday on July 16, the IAC is reprinting this slightly edited version of her open letter, first posted on Dec. 30, 2014. Thomas "Blood" McCreary, a member of the BLA, is the largest series in the Black Liberation Army archive. State Trooper Harper was wounded; Zayd Shakur was killed; State Trooper Foerster was killed. "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of . [62], In December 1973, Shakur was tried for a September 29, 1972, $3,700 robbery of the Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company in the Bronx, along with co-defendant Kamau Sadiki (born Fred Hilton). [238] According to Dylan Rodriguez, to many "U.S. radicals and revolutionaries" Shakur represents a "venerated (if sometimes fetishized) signification of liberatory desire and possibility". . [18], After returning to New York City, Shakur led the BPP chapter in Harlem, coordinating the Free Breakfast Program for children, free clinics, and community outreach. [110] 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 paralyzed 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 (as described in Trooper Harper's testimony) "would be anatomically impossible". Black Liberation Army Member, Assata Shakur, Tried on Murder and Assault Charges New Jersey v. Chesimard, 555 F.2d 63 (3d Cir. Under cross-examination, Shakur was unable to explain how three magazines of ammunition and 16 live shells had gotten into her shoulder bag; she also admitted to knowing that Zayd Shakur carried a gun at times, and specifically to seeing a gun sticking out of Acoli's pocket while stopping for supper at a Howard Johnson's restaurant shortly before the shooting. [62][159], Davidson based his testimony on an August 4, 1976, examination of Shakur and on X-rays taken immediately after the shootout at Middlesex General Hospital. I have spent many days and nights behind bars thinking about this trial, this outrage. "Prosecution Rests Case on Chesimard Robbery Trial; Defendant Ejected". Following her parents' divorce in 1950, she moved with her mother and maternal grandparents to Wilmington, North Carolina. She was questioned by her own attorney, Stuart Ball, for under 40minutes, and then cross-examined by Barone for less than two hours (see the Witnesses section below). [67] Kunstler had previously been successful in subpoenaing Kelley and Church for the trials of American Indian Movement (AIM) members charged with murdering FBI agents. The Black Liberation Army (BLA) defined itself as a politico-military organization engaged in armed struggle against the U.S. government. Mar 24, 2017 at 5:05 pm. Chambers, Marcia (December 28, 1973). [112] On April 26, while Shakur was pregnant,[108] New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne signed an extradition order to move Shakur to New Jersey to face two counts of attempted murder, attempted assault, and possession of dangerous weapons related to the alleged ambush; however, Shakur declined to waive her right to an extradition hearing, and asked for a full hearing before Middlesex County Court Judge John E. 1973) (per curiam). Assata Shakur expresses her concerns about how her fellow people have been treated in America. Exploring her well-read autobiography last year changed my life. [96] Judge Arnold Bauman denied the application, but directed another lawyer, Howard Jacobs, to defend Shakur while Williams remained the attorney of record. [163], In October 1977, New York State Superior Court Justice John Starkey dismissed murder and robbery charges against Shakur related to the death of Richard Nelson during a hold-up of a Brooklyn social club on December 28, 1972, ruling that the state had delayed too long in bringing her to trial. [58] Acoli was captured after a 36-hour manhuntinvolving 400 people, state police helicopters, and bloodhounds. Case of oppression in U.S '' autobiography last year changed my life rejected Kunstler 's that... Have spent many days and nights behind bars thinking about this trial, outrage! Assata 's Daughters is named in her honor parents & # x27 ; in... Panthers are still imprisoned in the US of the Black Liberation Army ( BLA ) defined itself a! Indicted nearly a. Assata had several warrants for her arrest on charges Troopers Foerster. Semi-Automatic pistols were discovered near Foerster 's body had a far smaller Black population than Middlesex County Zayd. 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