Congressman Jamaal Bowman once worked as a principal at a Bronx middle school where he placed a fugitive, convicted police murderer on the school’s “wall of honor,” but now he has I’m watching the movement from the sidelines.
A “squad” of Democratic senators was recently asked about honoring Joanne Chesimard, aka Assata Shakur. The Black Warrior is a black extremist on the FBI’s Most Wanted list who was convicted along with two others of the execution-style murder of New Jersey State Police Officer Werner Foerster in 1973. Before she escapes her prison and flees to Cuba.
“Who are you to tell someone about their own history and how they should relate to the people in their history?” Bowman said Feb. 21 in Yonkers. 3rd Precinct Regional Council Meeting.
In response to a question from Democratic Rep. Marty Dolan, one of two Democrats challenging the incumbent for a second term in this year’s party primary, Bowman said, “Is it okay to teach school children about the existence of cop killers?” “Do you think it’s a mistake?” he asked. Should be featured on Cornerstone Academy’s “Wall of Heroes” for Social Action.
“I had black and Latino students at my school,” Bowman, who is black, fumed at Dolan, who is white. “We tried to teach as much as we could about Black and Latino history, the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Bowman, who represents parts of Bronx and Westchester counties in New York’s 16th Congressional District, pointed out that Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and co-signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a slave owner.
When Mr. Dolan asked whether Mr. Bowman refused to condemn the exclusion, the incumbent Mr. Bowman doubled down.
“I reject the accusation,” Bowman said. “I’m answering questions the way I want to answer them. We, the kids at my school, learned the history of people outside the walls, and many other people. That’s what we did. That’s it. Period.”
Chesimard, a member of the extremist group Black Liberation Army, was one of three people charged in the May 2, 1973 shooting that erupted when he was stopped for a motor vehicle violation on the Jersey Turnpike. was. A second police officer was also injured in the shooting.
At the time, Chesimard was wanted for several other felonies, including bank robbery.
Chesimard was convicted of first-degree murder, but escaped from Clinton Prison in New Jersey on November 2, 1979 and resurfaced in Cuba, where he is believed to still reside.
she on the FBI’s most wanted listis offering a $1 million reward for her return.
After Bowman fiercely defended Shakur at the hearing, a woman followed up on Dolan’s questions. “what happened [Assata Shakur] Will achieving that put her in the same realm as Thomas Jefferson?”
Bowman noted that Chesimard is a member of the Black Panther Party, and said the Black Panther Party has done some good things.
“You can criticize this person, but you can also criticize many of our American heroes,” the congressman said.
Mr. Dolan, 66, a financial and strategic advisor, on Sunday slammed Mr. Bowman’s defense of “using tax dollars to teach children to glorify cop killings.”
Apart from Mr. Dolan, Mr. Bowman faces a stiff preliminary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is backed by Jewish activists including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They condemn what they see as Mr. Bowman’s anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian positions.
Chesimard isn’t the only controversial figure to be inducted into Bowman’s school’s Hall of Fame.
Black radical Mutul Shakur (stepfather of the late rapper Tupac Shakur) was also honored. He served a long prison sentence for armed robbery and died of cancer last July after being released. Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) was honored as well. ), an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, according to the Huffington Post. It was first reported on the wall.
The Wall of Honor is just the latest controversy to follow Bowman in the past.
He recently came under fire for reposting an outlandish September 11, 2001 conspiracy theory on his blog, which he later denounced.
Bowman also pleaded guilty last year to one count of accidentally setting off a fire alarm at the Cannon Office Building in Washington, D.C., ahead of a Congressional vote to avert a partial government shutdown. He paid a $1,000 fine, which he denied was intended to interfere with his case.
