WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced a bipartisan Senate Resolution calling for the immediate extradition of convicted felons Joanne Chesimard, William Morales, and all other fugitives from justice who are receiving safe haven in Cuba in order to avoid prosecution or confinement for criminal offenses committed in the United States. The Resolution was cosponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
“This Resolution underscores the importance of bringing brazen criminals and terrorists to justice in the United States. As we seek a more responsible U.S.-Cuba policy, we must make it clear that Cuba must end the shameful practice of harboring to American fugitives who have committed egregious acts, including murdering American police officers, hijacking planes, or trafficking arms. ” said Senator Menendez.
In May 1973, Chesimard and two accomplices executed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a routine traffic stop. Although Chesimard was tried, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, she escaped from a New Jersey prison on November 2, 1979 and is currently a fugitive in Cuba. In 2013, Chesimard was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Most Wanted Terrorists list.
William Morales, leader and chief bomb-maker for the terrorist organization FALN, committed numerous terrorist attacks on United States soil, including the bombings of Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan in 1975 and the Mobil Oil employment office in New York in 1977, which killed five people, including Frank Connor of Fair Lawn, N.J., and injured over 60 others.
More than 70 fugitives from the United States, charged with offenses ranging from hijacking to kidnapping to drug offenses to murder, are believed to be receiving safe haven in Cuba.
A copy of the Resolution can be found here.
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