A storm of criticism has erupted around Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after he chose Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari — a progressive activist who publicly expressed admiration for convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur — to serve on his youth and education transition team, according to The NY Post.
Shaakir-Ansari, who helps lead the Alliance for Quality Education, was tapped last week to advise the incoming administration on public-school matters. Her past comments resurfaced almost immediately, including an interview with Lingua Franca in which she was asked to choose any woman in history to spend an afternoon with.
Her answer drew immediate fire.
“Assata Shakur — I believe she has so much to offer. With all of the reflection you must have done after all of the years as a Black Panther, what advice do you have for black women to move the movement while also caring for each other?” she said.
Assata Shakur — born Joanne Deborah Chesimard — was convicted for the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster after a gun battle on the New Jersey Turnpike. She had been traveling with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli when state troopers stopped them for a broken taillight, prompting a shootout that left Foerster dead.
Before her involvement with the Black Liberation Army, she was aligned with the Black Panthers and immersed in radical political activity during the 1970s. In 1977 she was convicted of murder and assault, but in 1979 a team of armed BLA members broke her out of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women, took hostages, and fled in a hijacked van.
Shakur ultimately escaped to Cuba in 1984, where the communist regime granted her asylum. Calling herself a “20th century escaped slave,” she remained a fugitive for decades and was placed on the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list in May 2013 — the first woman ever added.
For families of fallen police officers, Mamdani’s decision to elevate someone who venerates Shakur felt like a painful slap.
“Supporting a cop killer, you know, is not . . . a good thing,” said Grace Machate, whose husband, NYPD Officer Robert Machate, was murdered in 1989 while she was seven months pregnant.
Her husband, like Foerster, was gunned down during what began as a routine traffic stop involving “two suspicious males.”
“When someone kills an officer, whether he’s from New Jersey, New York or Alabama, I don’t care. It’s something that families are going to stick together on,” she said.
Retired NYPD lieutenant and US Marine Eric Dym reacted with disbelief at Mamdani’s choice.
“That’s unbelievable. I don’t think it’s a small oversight. I think it’s a conscious decision,” said Dym.
He added a blunt warning about what this signals to the rank and file: “When someone with that history is given a seat at the table it sends the message that your sacrifice is negotiable . . . this just strips away at the morale of the NYPD.”
John Macari, a retired NYPD lieutenant and co-host of the “New York’s Finest: Retired and Unfiltered Podcast,” argued that while Shaakir-Ansari can hold any views she wants, they shouldn’t shape city policy.
“Shaakir-Ansari has every right to her opinions, but she should have no business shaping education policy in a city where thousands of cops entrust their own kids to be educated and kept safe,” he said.
Shaakir-Ansari, a grandmother and longtime education advocate, has been involved in activism for roughly twenty years. In 2017, she appeared on City and State New York Magazine’s list of the 25 most influential Brooklyn leaders. She even launched a clothing line last year, raising $15,000 through GoFundMe.
During the mayoral campaign, Mamdani sparked additional backlash when he declined to denounce a glowing tribute to Shakur posted by the Democratic Socialists of America after her death.
“We vow to honor her legacy by recognizing our duty to fight for our freedom, to win, to love and protect one another because we have nothing to lose but our chains,” the DSA said on X.
Pressed by The Post to respond to the DSA statement, Mamdani sidestepped the issue.
“I am running to be the mayor of New York City,” he said. “I am running to represent the people of New York City. My focus is on the issues of the city, and I’m accountable to those same New Yorkers.”
Law-enforcement experts warn that appointments like this are a troubling signal for the coming administration. Retired NYPD sergeant and John Jay Professor Joe Giacolone said the fallout will be swift.
“You pick someone who praises a cop killer, you don’t need a slide rule to figure out what’s going on here — there’s gonna be two types of cops left, those who want to get out and can, and those who want to get out and can’t.”
{Matzav.com}
