Noticias

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Joanne Chesimard, a member of the Black Liberation Army convicted in the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, died Thursday at age 78. 

She became one of the state’s most infamous criminals after Foerster’s murder and her subsequent escape to Cuba. New Jersey officials have sought to extradite Chesimard from Cuba for years; she topped the New Jersey State Police’s Most Wanted List until her death.

The Cuban ministry said she died in Havana of health complications and old age.

After graduating from college, she began using the name Assata Shakur. She and two other members of the Black Liberation Army were stopped by a pair of state troopers on the Turnpike on May 2, 1973. Chesimard was the subject of a multi-state manhunt at the time. Foerster and James Costan, another member of the BLA, died in the ensuing gunfight. State Trooper James Harper was also wounded.

Chesimard was convicted of murder and seven other felonies stemming from the shootout and sentenced to life in prison in 1977. She escaped from prison in 1979 with the help of the BLA and the May 19 Communist Organization. She made her way to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum in 1984.

The FBI and the New Jersey attorney general each offered a $1 million reward for her capture.

She was one of two activists convicted of the murder of Foerster; the other, Sundiata Acoli, was released on parole in 2022 after an appellate panel found the now-elderly man is not a threat.

This is a developing story.

The post Joanne Chesimard, convicted in infamous murder of NJ trooper, dies in Cuba appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

The post The Inside Edge with David Wildstein: Naval Records appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

An improper release of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair)’s military personnel records to her GOP opponent’s campaign has caught the attention of New Jersey’s House and Senate Democrats, who are demanding a congressional investigation into the snafu.

CBS News reported earlier today that when a surrogate for Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign for governor asked the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) for Sherrill’s records, he was given an almost entirely unredacted file. Among the details included in the records he received were Sherrill’s Social Security number and her and her parents’ home addresses.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), leading a letter alongside New Jersey’s two Democratic senators and seven other Democratic representatives (excluding Sherrill herself), asked that the Armed Services, Oversight, and Veterans’ Affairs Committees in both chambers of Congress investigate what the members characterized as a “remarkable Trump administration failure.”

“This is a dangerous and corrupt attempt to weaponize the federal government for political purposes and meddle in New Jersey’s fall elections,” the letter states. “Determining all individuals involved in this illegal act and punishing them to the fullest extent of the law is essential to restoring public trust and reassuring current and former servicemembers that their privacy will not be violated by their own government, nor will their military service be misconstrued for partisan gain.”

Sherrill’s campaign for governor has taken a similar stance on the records release, saying that the Trump administration “blatantly violated federal law.” Gov. Phil Murphy called the release “gutter tactics” from the Ciattarelli campaign, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that he supports a “criminal investigation” into the matter.

CBS reported that the documents the Ciattarelli campaign received appeared to be the same as records Sherrill herself requested when she was preparing for her first congressional campaign in 2017. The NPRC blamed the improper release on a technician error, and said it had reached out to Sherrill to apologize.

The New Jersey Globe reported earlier today that Sherrill did not walk with her graduating class as part of the fallout from a major cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy; no part of the Globe’s story was based on any improperly released files. CBS News also devoted part of its story to that scandal, which took place in 1992.

Sherrill said that she herself committed no wrongdoing, but because she “didn’t turn in some of [her] classmates,” she wasn’t allowed to be an official part of commencement ceremonies. After graduating, Sherrill went on to serve in the Navy for nine years with an unblemished service record, retiring after being recommended for the post of lieutenant commander.

In their letter today, New Jersey Democrats said an investigation into the records release needs to be conducted in order to protect any future military veterans who hope to run for public office.

“Under no circumstances should any veteran who answered the call of duty to serve our country have to worry about their sensitive military records being leaked and used as part of a political smear campaign,” they wrote.

The post N.J. congressional Dems demand investigation into release of Sherrill records appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Mendham Boro), a former lobbyist for Sesame Workshop, has joined bipartisan calls to protect NJ PBS, which is set to shut down next July. 

The assemblywoman said she will help NJ PBS find a new broadcasting partner or source of funding to save the channel. Dunn had lobbied for America’s Public Television Stations, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood before the federal government before her time in the Assembly.

“NJ PBS provides a distinct New Jersey voice to the current media landscape and a platform for free educational, civic-minded and diverse programming that cannot be viewed anywhere else. The potential loss of NJ PBS is about more than a TV station, it’s about access to programs that strengthen New Jersey families and serve the interests of the public,” Dunn said. “I’m looking to create a working group of like-minded lawmakers, broadcasters, journalists and advocates to find a solution that will save NJ PBS for future generations.”

The Trump administration cut funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting this year, leading WNET, which operates and broadcasts NJ PBS, not to renew its contract. WNET received much of its funding from the CBP. The state government also cut three-quarters of funding for NJ PBS in the most recent budget.

Dunn joins a bipartisan effort to protect public television in New Jersey. State Sens. John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro) and Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick) called for a “top-to-bottom analysis” of public television in New Jersey as they look to retain public TV in the state.

New Jersey is one of 36 states to directly fund public television, and Dunn said she wants to keep it accessible to all — she pointed to HBO’s takeover of Sesame Street as an example of the loss of publicly valuable programming.

“Currently, if parents of small children want to watch the latest episodes of Sesame Street, they have to pay for a premium channel or streaming service, which is especially financially burdensome for families living in high-cost New Jersey. Sesame Street was something that was safe for all kids and reached everyone no matter their income,” Dunn said. “The further public television is forced to shift away from its original mission, the less families will have access to programs that truly make a difference.”

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