FBI Director Kash Patel is warning Americans towards romanticizing the late Assata Shakur, 2Pac’s godmother, by calling her a “terrorist” whose demise shouldn’t be mourned.
In a fiery submit on X Sunday morning, Patel referred to Shakur by her start title, Joanne Chesimard, and rejected any suggestion that she was a freedom fighter. He advised that she be remembered because the FBI has lengthy categorized her: a convicted cop killer who didn’t struggle for justice.
“She murdered New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in cold blood, then fled to Cuba to escape accountability. The FBI never stopped calling her what she was: a terrorist,” Patel wrote. “Mourning her is spitting on the badge and the blood of every cop who gave their life in service.”
Shakur’s daughter confirmed she died final week in Havana at age 78. According to stories, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs additionally launched an announcement acknowledging her demise, citing well being issues and superior age.
The former Black Liberation Army member was convicted in 1977 for Foerster’s killing and sentenced to life in jail. Just two years later, she escaped from jail with assist from allies within the motion and ultimately made her approach to Cuba, the place Fidel Castro granted her political asylum.
Shakur remained one of many FBI’s most needed fugitives for many years, whilst she grew to become a determine of reverence for some activists and a degree of pleasure in hip-hop historical past because of her reference to 2Pac.
But Patel made clear the bureau is not going to permit her legacy to be softened in demise. His blunt message underscores a long-standing divide between legislation enforcement and people who view Shakur as a hero of resistance.