Women’s March Celebrates Birthday of Convicted Cop Killer Assata Shakur

The official Twitter account for the Women’s March celebrated the birthday of convicted cop killer Assata Shakur this week.

The post drew sharp criticism from users across Twitter after it was revealed that Shakur escaped from a New Jersey prison and fled to Cuba after being convicted of the murder of police officer Werner Foerster during a traffic stop on the New Jersey turnpike in 1973.

Twitter users sounded off against the activist group’s endorsement of Shakur. Even CNN’s Jake Tapper wondered why progressives weren’t condemning what he called “ugly sentiments” coming out of the Women’s March committee.

The backlash prompted a 20-tweet defense from the Women’s March organization, in which they argued that although they condemn violent forms of protest, they still admire Shakur, who they call a “feminist figure” for the rest of her civil rights activism. They claimed that backlash against their endorsement of Shakur serves as proof that the “far right” is threatened by their movement.

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com