FBI on former Black Panther Assata Shakur: ‘We absolutely still consider her a threat’
From Your Black World
To many, the idea that a woman who spent the majority of her life working against the oppressively racist American government could ever be considered a terrorist in her own right is preposterous. But Assata Shakur, who is accused of killing a New Jersey trooper during a firefight, is being sought out not as an escaped criminal, but a terrorist, and the FBI says that the 66 -ear-old who has lived quietly in Cuba since 1984 is a security threat.
Assata escaped from America and relocated to Cuba after being convicted of shooting to death a New Jersey cop in 1973, but now, for reasons which have yet to be explained, Eric Holder’s FBI has a newfound interest in Shakur’s capture.
The FBI made Shakur infamous by making her the first woman to be added to the FBI’s most wanted list and putting a $1 million dollar bounty on her head, an amount that was doubled to $2 million by the supposedly cash strapped state of New Jersey.
FBI special agent Aaron Ford attempted to explain why the agency is targeting Shakur in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“It’s unfortunate that some-one involved in the murder of an officer, kidnappings, hostage takings and robberies in a 14-year span is revered by a segment of society,” said Ford.
“For us, justice never sleeps, justice never rests,” Ford continued. “We’re looking to bring her to justice because she com-mitted a heinous act. She is a member of an organization which espoused hate against the U.S. government.”
Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation movement which ‘espoused’ self defense in the face of continued subjugation and mistreatment.
Ford goes on to say that the reason Shakur is being sought by the government is because she continues to use her freedom of speech to spread Black Liberation movement ideas.
“We absolutely still consider her a threat,” said Ford. “She is a menace to society still. She has connections and associations from members of that party she belonged to years ago. They are still espousing anti-government views.”
In that sense, to be anti-government is to be deemed a terrorist. Based upon Ford’s interview, those are the new rules.
