The Dean of Students at Stanford University, Dean Mona Hicks wrote a letter to all the students at the university and included a quote from convicted cop killer Joanne Chesimard, AKA Assata Shakur. Chesimard had been convicted in the slaying of New Jersey State Trooper Jaibes Harper in May of 1973.
The trooper had stopped them because of a malfunctioning light. Chesimard shot the officer twice and then her gun jammed, so she grabbed the trooper’s gun and shot him twice in execution fashion. She was convicted and sent to prison. She became free when a successful prison break freed her from prison and she moved to Cuba, who shielded her until her death in 2019. Chesimard was a member of the domestic terror group, the Black Liberation Army.
Hicks wrote:
“I appreciate all of the emails and texts of solidarity and encouragement that I have received in my short tenure at Stanford. As a Black woman, I am also struggling to make meaning in our world today, but your humanity gives me hope — your energy, your education, your truth, and your purpose. This loving refrain from Assata Shakur still rings true as I shelter-in-place: ‘It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.’”
The Stanford College Republicans made the following reply:
“We are absolutely disgusted that the Stanford Dean of Students, Mona Hicks, praised and quoted cop-killer and domestic terrorist, Assata Shakur, in an email to the student body yesterday. Assata Shakur, (whose real name is Joanne Chesimard) is a convicted murderer who shot two police officers execution style in 1973. Hicks included what she described as ‘a loving refrain’ from the murderer Shakur. For Hicks to praise and endorse a cop-killer at a time when thugs and murderers are terrorizing Americans in their businesses, vehicles and homes is unacceptable and unbecoming of anyone in a position of authority at Stanford University. We condemn Mona Hicks in the strongest terms and demand that she apologize immediately.”