New Jersey Prioritizes 77-Year-Old Assata Shakur at the Top of Its Most Wanted List

In a controversial move on May 12, the New Jersey State Police placed 77-year-old Assata Shakur, formerly Joanne Chesimard, at the top of its 2025 “Most Wanted” list, offering a $2 million reward for her capture. Shakur has lived in Cuba since 1984, where she was granted political asylum, became a citizen, and earned a master’s degree. Her past includes a 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that left one trooper dead and another wounded. She was convicted in 1977, escaped from prison in 1979, and fled to Cuba five years later. While law enforcement groups and multiple presidential administrations have pushed for her return, the state’s renewed focus raises critical questions about its priorities.

“Her presence in Cuba is an affront to every resident of our state,” the New Jersey State Troopers Fraternal Association said. But critics argue the state’s emphasis on Shakur is misaligned with present-day crises. “Is this truly where New Jersey’s finite resources and political will should be directed, when deeper systemic crises fester within its own borders?” the article asks.

New Jersey faces some of the most severe racial wealth gaps in the nation. According to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, white households hold a median wealth of $662,500, compared to under $20,000 for Black and Latina/o households—a disparity that’s doubled since the pandemic. Education remains deeply segregated, funneling minority students into underperforming schools and widening achievement gaps.

Infrastructure is also failing. Drivers lose an average of $713 annually to bad roads, 7.8% of bridges are structurally deficient, and schools face a $1.58 billion capital deficit. Health disparities are stark: Black mothers are seven times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white mothers, and Latina/o residents are six times more likely to be uninsured.

Meanwhile, housing instability affects more than one in 10 residents, with Black and Hispanic New Jerseyans more than twice as likely to face housing barriers. Amid all this, the pursuit of Shakur “speaks volumes about a deeply misguided sense of priority,” the article concludes. “A truly just and effective government would… address the tangible suffering within its own communities.”

Link: Black Enterprise