A New Jersey trooper was fired by the State Police months after he promoted a T-shirt on social media bearing the image of Joanne Chesimard, the fugitive convicted of killing a state trooper, according to court records and images obtained by NJ Advance Media.
The trooper, Nyron Harris, called the post an "honest mistake," but the image outraged current and former members of the division and, according to a lawsuit, cost the trooper his job.
Harris claims in the December suit that superiors drummed up minor infractions to justify turning him away from the statewide force when he was up for reenlistment last summer.
The trooper's attorney, George Daggett, claims Harris did not know it was Chesimard on the shirt, which contained a grid of nine portraits of prominent black women with the words "Black Excellence" but did not identify them by name.
Harris, who is African-American, accuses top brass of cowing to a campaign organized on a private State Police Facebook group, claiming an internal investigator leaked information that was later posted on the page.
The lawsuit claims Harris' firing violated New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination because white troopers accused of far worse behavior were allowed to stay on the force.
Spokesmen for the State Police and the Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the case.
Chesimard, who escaped prison after she was convicted in the 1973 killing of State Trooper Werner Foerster, now lives under political asylum in Cuba, where she goes by Assata Shakur. She is listed as one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists. Supporters have long maintained that she was framed for the killing, and she remains an icon in the black liberation movement.
Foerster's death in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike was one of the most traumatic moments in the division's nearly 100-year history. For many troopers, it still serves as a reminder of the dangers they face.
The September 2016 post that sparked the controversy was on Harris' personal Instagram page, where he shared a picture of a T-shirt depicting black-and-white portraits of women including Harriet Tubman and Maya Angelou. Chesimard is pictured in the bottom-right corner.
"Black Excellence T-shirts available," the caption said.
Harris claims in his lawsuit that he was helping promote his cousin's clothing company, which sold the shirts, and he had no idea it was Chesimard in the photo.
Bishop Jethro James, a pastor at Paradise Baptist Church in Newark and a chaplain for the State Police, said he was concerned with how top officials at the division handled the case, saying it underscored what he believes is the disproportionate punishment meted out to black troopers compared to their white peers.
James told NJ Advance Media that the post resulted in an internal investigation, details from which were later posted on The Outfit, a private Facebook group run by retired troopers that has more than 1,600 members.
Posts on the group reviewed by NJ Advance Media, show an administrator, retired Trooper William Ames, shared a screenshot of the post in March 2017, claiming Harris would be re-enlisted and encouraging members to contact the colonel about "this human SHIT STAIN." Ames attributed the information to "the Phantom."
One member called Harris' post "a slap in the face of every trooper out there doing a tough job."
Others strategized how to get the trooper fired.
"One could go on the AG website and file a complaint anonymously using a false e-mail address," one post said.