Assata Shakur, Black Liberation Army Figure, Dies at 78

Assata Shakur, the Black Liberation Army member convicted in the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, fugitive since 1979, and the first woman placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list, has died at 78.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry and Shakur’s family confirmed she died in Havana on Sept. 25, 2025.

Born JoAnne Deborah Byron in Queens in 1947, Shakur became active in civil-rights organizing while studying at Borough of Manhattan Community College and City College of New York, later adopting the name Assata Olugbala Shakur. She briefly joined the Black Panther Party before aligning with the more militant Black Liberation Army.

Shakur rose to national attention after a 1973 New Jersey Turnpike stop escalated into a shootout that left Foerster and BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur dead; Assata Shakur was wounded, arrested, and ultimately convicted of Foerster’s murder in 1977. She maintained her innocence.

In 1979, armed accomplices broke her out of prison. She surfaced in Cuba in 1984 and was granted political asylum, where she remained for the rest of her life.

In 2013, the FBI named her to its Most Wanted Terrorists list, the first woman ever added, and, alongside New Jersey authorities, announced a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to her capture. At the time, FBI officials characterized her as a domestic terrorist responsible for an execution-style killing.

Supporters long argued Shakur’s case was marred by the era’s surveillance and prosecution of Black nationalist groups and by a justice system they viewed as biased; her 1987 memoir, Assata, and decades of speeches made her an icon to some activists and artists.

Her death has renewed debate over her legacy, and the still-raw memory of Foerster’s killing, in New Jersey and beyond.

Shakur is survived by her daughter, Kakuya.