Overview

• Patel called Shakur a terrorist in a post on X and said mourning her was “spitting on the badge” of officers killed in the line of duty.
• Shakur died in Havana on September 25 at age 78, according to Cuba’s foreign ministry and her daughter, who cited health issues tied to advanced age.
• She was convicted in 1977 in the killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, escaped custody in 1979, and received political asylum in Cuba in 1984.
• The FBI had placed her on its Most Wanted Terrorists list—the first woman included—with federal and New Jersey rewards offered for information leading to her arrest.
• Progressive groups including the Democratic Socialists of America and the Chicago Teachers Union posted tributes, while New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy condemned those statements as “shameful and depraved.”