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December 19, 2014

New Jersey Hopes Cuba Thaw Will Bring Capture of Black Panther Assata Shakur 
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Authorities in New Jersey have said they hope a historic warming of ties
between the United States and Cuba will help them capture and imprison
Black Panther Assata Shakur. In a statement, State Police Superintendent
Col. Rick Fuentes said, "We view any changes in relations with Cuba as
an opportunity to bring her back to the United States to finish her
sentence for the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper in 1973." Shakur
was convicted of killing Trooper Werner Foerster after being pulled over
on the New Jersey Turnpike. The encounter left both the officer and a
fellow Black Panther, Zayd Malik Shakur, dead. Assata Shakur has said
she was shot by police with both arms in the air, and then again from
the back. She was sentenced to life in prison but managed to escape and
flee to Cuba, where she has lived since 1984.