Rest in power Assata Shakur

By Burju Perez

Rest well and thank you, Assata Shakur.

Activist, author, and revolutionary, Assata Shakur has died at the age of 78 on Thursday, September 25, 2025. She lived a life dedicated to liberation and freedom for Black people. One marked by her activism in the Black Panther Party, then the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Her chosen name, Assata Olugbala means “she who struggles for the people”

The US and the Fight for Liberation

Assata became a central case study in the FBI's counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's COINTELPRO operation was designed to "expose, misdirect, destroy and neutralize" Black political organizations and their leadership. Assata was identified and specifically targeted by this program. In cooperation with the local police, the FBI systematically fed false accusations and fake news articles to the press accusing Assata and other activists of crimes they did not commit. This campaign aimed to criminalize and defame her. She was a hunted person and a “shoot to kill” target for police. According to documents, one of COINTELPRO’s goals was to “prevent, neutralize, and discredit a Black Messiah who had the potential to unify the masses”. The government’s actions created a public image of Assata as a dangerous figure and exaggerated her importance in the BLA to “demonize” her. Prior to her 1977 conviction, Assata faced repeated trials for armed robberies and assaults, but she was either acquitted or the charges were dismissed. 

In May of 1973, Assata Shakur and two other members of the BLA were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, which resulted in a shootout that killed state trooper Werner Foerster and BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur. Assata was shot and severely wounded in the confrontation. She was charged with the murder of the state trooper. Assata’s defense argued that she was shot in the front, then again from the back. She sustained wounds that would only have occurred if both arms were raised in surrender. A pathologist testified that there was “no conceivable way” the first bullet could have hit her clavicle if her arm was down. A neurologist also testified stating the bullet had severed the median nerve in her right arm, which would have instantly paralyzed it and rendered her unable to pull a trigger. There was no gunpowder residue found on her fingers and her fingerprints were not found on any weapon. This is according to forensic analysis performed by the Trenton, NJ crime lab and the FBI crime labs in Washington DC. The surviving  state trooper later admitted to perjury in his grand jury testimony where he cited Assata as one of the shooters. She was found guilty by an all white jury, some of whom had familial connections to the police force. Assata Shakur received a life sentence plus thirty years. 

Escape and Political Asylum 

In November of 1979, members of the Black Liberation Army helped her break out of prison. They posed as visitors, stormed the facility, took guards hostage, and commandeered a prison van to facilitate her escape. Assata’s escape was viewed as a significant blow to COINTELPRO’s strategy. 

After disappearing for five years, Assata resurfaced in Cuba where she was granted political asylum by Fidel Castro. Cuba cited her subjection to political persecution and lack of fair trial as the basis for asylum. The US government placed her on the FBI’s most wanted terrorists list in 2013, making her the first woman on the list, and offered a $2 million reward for information leading to her capture. Despite US efforts, she remained in Cuba until her death on Thursday, September 25, 2025. While the US government tried to frame her as a bank robber, kidnapper, and murderer, we know her as a woman who never gave up on freedom.

Written by Tamara Rose

If you would like to know more about Assata Shakur, check out her autobiography, 

Assata, an autobiography here: https://frugalbookstore.net/products/assata-an-autobiography-by-assata-shakur?_pos=1&_psq=Assat&_ss=e&_v=1.0