Convicted fugitive murderer Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur) died last week in Cuba at the age of 78. She may have escaped from American justice, but there is no evading the judgment that lies beyond.
Chesimard was convicted of murdering NJ State Trooper Werner Foerster by shooting him in the face with his own gun after a 1973 traffic stop on the NJ Turnpike. Chesimard was a terrorist; a member of the Black Liberation Army, a notorious left wing group of 1970s radicals linked to other Marxist terror groups like the Weather Underground, the May 19th Communist Organization and the Puerto Rican, Cuban-fueled Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN), who murdered my father Frank Connor on January 24, 1975, when they bombed historic Fraunces Tavern in downtown New York City.
Most of the unrepentant FALN terrorists were essentially put away for life in the early 1980s after their federal conviction and sentencing in Chicago. That is until 1999, when Bill Clinton and Eric Holder thrust clemency on them to garner Latino support for then first lady Hillary Clinton’s 2000 New York Senate run. President Obama incredibly granted a second clemency on his last day in office to leader Oscar Lopez Rivera, who refused the 1999 Clinton grant and who a group of us kept in prison following his 2011 Federal Parole hearing.
FALN bomb maker William Morales (who was not offered Clinton clemency), like Chesimard, was convicted of his crimes in New York state and federal courts, and sentenced to appropriately long prison terms (essentially life) only to escape and find safe haven in communist Cuba since the late 1980s.
The two fugitives Chesimard and Morales are forever linked by their misdeeds, by their escapes, by both living in Cuba and back home, in New York City. For years, City College of NY (CCNY) sponsored the Morales/Shakur Student Center on campus until I got wind of it in 2013, went on campus, and took photos. CCNY finally closed this rats nest under threat of exposure to the media. One of the most painful parts of that episode was that my dad Frank Connor actually attended CCNY out of high school before graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson in New Jersey. There was no student center or even a footnote for Frank Connor or Werner Foerster, but instead a center named for the terrorists who murdered them.
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Over these many decades and even now, while our families sought justice, we were ignored, and worse, slighted by our own government and public institutions until 2022. Then Sens. Marco Rubio and Robert Menendez introduced the Frank Connor and Trooper Werner Foerster Justice Act, demanding the return of Chesimard and Morales. In 2025, a new version was picked up by Sens. Rick Scott and Ted Cruz, with a similar bill, the Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Chris Smith.
While both bills have stalled in Congress, Chesimard's death has created a campaign issue in the hotly contested New Jersey governor's race. Republican Jack Ciattarelli has denounced Chesimard and those who would make a hero of her, including the Chicago Teachers Union. Democrat Mikie Sherrill, meanwhile, has shown tacit support for Chesimard by remaining silent, failing to denounce the cop killer.
We hoped to finally secure justice for Trooper Foerster and my dad by bringing these fugitives home to their prison sentences. Now, justice to Chesimard has been meted out by a higher being than us.
But what of forgiveness?
We watched in wonder last month as Erika Kirk forgave Charlie's assassin on national TV. (I was fortunate enough to meet Charlie Kirk several times.) Forgiveness in such circumstances is something one struggles with. What does it mean to forgive someone who trespasses against us, but lies about such trespasses and is unrepentant, like Chesimard, Morales, Lopez and the other members of the FALN?
I think one can forgive the acts, while remaining committed to justice for those acts. And while I am more apt to forgive even the terrorists (for they never promised us anything), than the politicians (Clintons, Obama, Holder) to whom we gave our trust through our sacred vote, only to be betrayed, I will continue to seek earthly justice for Morales and the FALN.
If justice cannot be served here, Morales, like Chesimard, will be judged by his Creator.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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