As The Root reports, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is demanding that all flights from Newark Liberty International are barred until Assata Shakur (formerly Joanne Chesimard) is returned to the United States to be tried for her crimes. The 68-year-old activist and former member of the Black Panther Party was involved in a shootout in New Jersey that resulted in the death of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. She was convicted of the murder, and fled to cuba in 1984 due to their non-extradition pact. In a letter to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chief John Degnan, Christie wrote, "It is unacceptable to me as governor to have any flights between New Jersey and Cuba until and unless convicted cop killer and escaped fugitive Joanne Chesimard is returned to New Jersey to face justice," according to the New York Post.
Assata Shakur was convicted in 1979 for the death of Officer Foerster. Despite the state's inability to prove that she ever fired a gun, she was sentenced to 26 to 33 years in state prison. After her conviction and subsequent incarceration, three members of the Black Liberation Army reportedly took two guards hostage, stole a prison van and broke Shakur out.
Christie is demanding the Port Authority, an insitution controlled by the governor of New York and New Jersey, not allow any flights from Newark to Havana until the fugitive is returned, saying, "I will not tolerate rewarding the Cuban government for continuing to harbor a fugitive."
President Barack Obama noted earlier this year that while bringing back fugitives who have fled persecution by fleeing to Cuba would be ideal, it would disrupt diplomatic relations between the two countries. "We believe that the strong U.S. interest in the return of these fugitives will be best served by entering into this dialogue with Cuba," Obama said.
Regarding the incident, Christie wrote, in a letter to the President, "Cuba's provision of safe harbor to Chesimard by providing political asylum to a convicted cop killer ... is an affront to every resident of our state, our country, and in particular, the men and women of the New Jersey State Police."
