President Barack Obama's shift in policy on Cuba opens the door for the return of fugitives to the U.S. that fled there to escape authorities, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"There's a bunch of fugitives that are hiding out there. But, you have some really violent, violent people that fled there, have been there for decades, and they have to come back here to serve their time," Kerik said Friday.
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One fugitive who officials would like to see returned is Joanne Chesimard, convicted in the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. Chesimard, a member of the Black Panther Party, fled to Cuba after escaping from prison in 1979. She was also accused of assaulting a second state trooper and indicted on numerous other charges.
Kerik said he hoped the Cuban government would be pressured to return Chesimard, who is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list, but feared she may flee before she could be apprehended.
"If Cuba opens up, I know a whole bunch of state troopers from New Jersey that'll volunteer to go grab her," he said. "My fear is she tries to go somewhere else in the meantime to get away from this."
There is "a lot of rhetoric on social media right now" urging Obama to pardon Chesimard for the murder, Kerik said, adding it would be "horrific" if the administration decided to do that.
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