❓WHAT HAPPENED: Joanne Chesimard, convicted of the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper, has died in Havana, Cuba, decades after escaping U.S. custody and receiving asylum from Cuba’s communist regime.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Joanne Chesimard, a.k.a. Assata Shakur, the Communist Party of Cuba, New Jersey officials, and the family of slain State Trooper Werner Foerster.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Chesimard passed away on September 25, 2025, in Havana, Cuba. Her crimes and escape date back to the 1970s.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Sadly, it appears she has passed without being held fully accountable for her heinous crimes.” – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) and NJ State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan.
🎯IMPACT: Chesimard’s death refocuses attention on Cuba’s harboring of U.S. fugitives and the denial of justice to Trooper Werner Foerster’s family.
Cuban officials announced Friday that radical black nationalist Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, has died in Havana. Chesimard had been convicted in 1977 of the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. She escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she was granted asylum by the communist regime in 1984.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed her death, stating, “On September 25, 2025, American citizen Joanne Deborah Byron, ‘Assata Shakur,’ passed away in Havana, Cuba, due to health conditions and advanced age.” U.S. officials, including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D), expressed frustration that Chesimard evaded justice for decades. “For years, we have worked with the State Department to bring Chesimard back to New Jersey, so she could face justice for the cold-blooded murder of an American hero,” Murphy and NJ State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan said in a joint statement.
Chesimard, a member of the Black Liberation Army, was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Most Wanted Terrorists List in 2013. The FBI described the group as “one of the most violent militant organizations of the 1970s.” A $1 million reward for her capture had been offered by both the FBI and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office.
The death of Trooper Werner Foerster, who left behind a wife and young son, remains a deeply painful memory for his family and colleagues. “We mourn Trooper Foerster’s loss every day, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his widow, Rosie, their son, Eric, and the entire New Jersey State Police family,” Murphy and Callahan stated. They also emphasized their opposition to any repatriation of Chesimard’s remains to the U.S.
The Cuban government has long refused to extradite Chesimard and other U.S. fugitives, drawing criticism from Trump administration figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The Cuban regime continues to provide a safe haven for terrorists and criminals, including fugitives from the United States,” Rubio said earlier this year.
The State Department echoed this sentiment, stating, “On behalf of her victims, we regret that the Cuban dictatorship for decades protected this fugitive and prevented her from facing justice in our nation.”
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