FBI Director Kash Patel Slams Tributes To 'Terrorist' Assata Shakur

FBI Director Kash Patel is condemning tributes to Assata Shakur, a revolutionary fighter for Black Liberation who died at 78 on Thursday (September 25).

In a post on X, Patel labeled Shakur, born Joanne Chesimard, a "terrorist" and criticized those mourning her death. Patel shared an image of her FBI “Most Wanted” poster and referenced the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, for which Shakur was convicted in 1977. Shakur had long maintained her innocence and said her prosecution was politically motivated.

“Joanne Chesimard didn’t ‘fight for justice.’ She murdered New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in cold blood, then fled to Cuba to escape accountability,” Patel wrote. “The FBI never stopped calling her what she was: a terrorist. Mourning her is spitting on the badge and the blood of every cop who gave their life in service.”

Patel's comments come after Shakur died Thursday in Havana, Cuba, where she had lived in exile since receiving political asylum from the Cuban government in the 1980s. Her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, confirmed the news in a Facebook post, saying, “At approximately 1:15 PM on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath. Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time.”

Shakur was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the deadly 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. She escaped from prison in 1979 and resurfaced in Cuba in 1984, where she remained a fugitive under U.S. law.

Despite her fugitive status, Shakur became an enduring symbol for many activists and artists. Her life and writings have inspired generations of Black liberation movements.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry cited "health ailments and her advanced age" as Shakur's cause of death.

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