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Joanne Chesimard has become the first woman added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. Chesimard shot and killed state trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike 40-years ago.
Werner Foerster
She was a member of the Black Liberation Army at the time of the murder.
According to a state police account, "Foerster was severely wounded in his right arm and abdomen and then executed with his own service weapon on the roadside. Chesimard's jammed handgun was found at Foerster's side."
Chesimard was caught and sentenced to life in prison for the crime in 1977. Two years later she escaped from prison and eventually fled to Cuba where she received political asylum. She lives there under the name Assata Shakur
"I was convicted by...I don't even want to call it a trial, it was lynching, by an all-white jury," Chesimard told BET in 2001. "I had nothing but contempt for the system of justice under which I was tried."
Law enforcement sees it differently.
"Joanne Chesimard is a domestic terrorist who murdered a law enforcement officer execution-style," said Aaron Ford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark Division.
The now 65-years old Chesimard is the godmother of deceased rap icon Tupac Shakur. A reward of $2 million is being offered for her safe return.
"We want her to come back here and face justice and serve out her sentence," New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said.
News report
Tupac's godmother first woman on FBI terror list (CNN)
Assata Shakur in Her Own Words: Rare Recording of Activist Named to FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List
Information from ABC was used in this report
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