Joanne Chesimard, the Black Liberation Army member hiding in Cuba after murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973, has long eluded American justice and vexed New Jersey public officials as well as the public at large.
The Obama Administration repeatedly ignored calls from New Jersey’s federal representatives on both sides of the aisle to make Chesimard’s return a condition of the hugely controversial second term deal to “open” Cuba after decades of embargo and isolation.
President Donald Trump is signaling that he’s not honoring old “one-sided” deals, and that he’s determined to cancel it.
He’s prepared to levy new travel and business restrictions on Cuba.
In front of a boisterous crowd of Miami-based Cuban-Americans on Friday, the President specifically demanded that Cuban President Raul Castro “return the fugitives from American justice, including the return of the cop-killer Joanne Chesimard,” one of an estimated 70+ fugitives hiding in the Communist island nation…
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“I want to commend President Trump for speaking out so strongly and forcefully demanding the return of Joanne Chesimard to face justice in New Jersey for the murder of Trooper Foerster,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered in a statement. “His defense of the New Jersey State Police and the rule of law should give great confidence to every American who supports our system of justice.”
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