Why is Assata Shakur on the Most Wanted terrorist list?

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http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/05/07/fbi-lost-its-way-naming-shakur-to-most-wanted-terrorist-list/

MAY 7, 2013, 2:30 PM 

Why is Assata Shakur on the Most Wanted terrorist list?

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    The FBI’s recent addition of Assata Shakur to the most wanted terrorist list is a reflection of a larger problem relating to federal law enforcement’s domestic anti-terrorism tactics.

    Shakur, a former Black Panther and subject of the infamous FBI Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), was convicted of the first-degree murder of a New Jersey State trooper in a  controversial 1977 trial.  Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba the following year where she continues to reside under the protection of the Castro government.

    I’m not arguing here that Shakur received an unfair conviction, nor justifying her prison break.  What I am questioning is the motivation for the FBI placing a senior citizen on the Most Wanted terrorist list – a woman who is not implicated in plotting attacks against America.  Moreover, I am baffled at the timing given that she’s been in Cuba for over 30 years while posing no eminent threat to our national security.

    Yes, the homicide of a police officer is a serious crime. It’s still a stretch to place her on the most wanted terrorist list.

    Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports a surge in right-wing extremist groups since the election of our first black president.  Our nation has also seen a number of tragic domestic terrorist attacks – from Joe Stack’s suicide airplane attack on the federal building in Austin, Texas to last year’s mass murder at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.  And of course, there was the recent tragedy in Boston in which the FBI was alerted to one of the two suspected perpetrators.

    I believe that most Americans want federal law enforcement to place their attention and resources on counterterrorism that will actually make us safer, not giving us the illusion of fighting  threats that jeopardize domestic tranquility.   I’m even more certain that Americans would not sanction sending drones to Cuba to get Shakur.

    Let the FBI and DHS use our tax dollars to prioritize domestic terrorism threats in the proper manner.  Placing Shakur at the top of the terrorist list simply isn’t it.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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