Assata Olugbala Shakur (born July 16, 1947, as JoAnne Deborah Byron), whose married name was Chesimard, is an African-American activist, escaped convicted murderer and member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army (BLA). Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes and was the subject of a multistate manhunt.
Shakur and others claim that she was targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO as a result of her involvement with these organizations. Specifically, documentary evidence suggests that Shakur was targeted by an investigation named CHESROB, which "attempted to hook former New York Panther Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) to virtually every bank robbery or violent crime involving a black woman on the East Coast.