She was known by two names that convey two very different identities. One depicted her as a revolutionary heroine, an innocent target of police repression. The other was the name of a merciless gun-toting cop killer who cleverly escaped justice.

This is the legacy of Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur. It is also the heart of the continuing mystery about her.

Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard is the legal name of the convicted killer of a New Jersey State trooper. Assata Olugbala Shakur was the alias of the leftist revolutionary who escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 and found political asylum five years later in Cuba. Her protected status under the Castro regime was viewed as a long-standing obstacle to full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Chesimard/Shak

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