While watching the news one evening in 2017, I heard President Donald J. Trump speaking to supporters in Miami, Florida. He demanded that Cuba “… return the fugitives from American justice, including the return of the cop-killer Joanne Chesimard.”

The crowd roared with approval. He didn’t explain anything else. Who was Joanne Chesimard? What was the story? What was I missing?

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To the computer. J-o-a-n-n-e <space> C-h-e-s-i-m-a-r-d <enter>. The search result page yielded: “Assata Olugbala Shakur, married name, Joanne Chesimard, is an American political activist who was a member of ...” (ellipsis original) 

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Wait … what? Shakur? Political activist? Why was Trump calling for the apprehension of a political activist? What’s going on? Was Trump as crazy as they said?  

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Thus began a multi-year journey to discover the truth. As a trial and appellate attorney who had dedicated a thirty-year career to criminal law, serving both the government and minority defendants, I felt I could get to the bottom of things objectively. I’d represented the “worst” offenders in criminal courtrooms. I’d evaluated cases and written a number of successful appeals which resulted in lengthy prison sentences for black and minority convicts being reversed and set aside. I’d sued the government and police departments in civil court for their misdeeds. If anyone could unravel the facts, I thought could.

For years, there was no intention of writing a book. I just needed to know for myself. But, I was sucked into a black hole. At every corner, the Chesimard saga got more interesting, and the research became more involved. Every stone which was upended revealed two more that needed to be looked under. After a while there was so much information I had to start writing in order to organize my thoughts – and thus, this book was born.