Amber Randall on July 18, 2017

The Women’s March defended honoring a known cop-killing terrorist Monday night, saying the outrage over it was nothing more than right-wing fear.

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The Women’s March tweeted out Monday a birthday wish to Assata Shakur, a black woman on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, as a sign of resistance. After facing outrage over their choice to honor Shakur, the Women’s March pushed back in defense of their tweet.

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“Women’s March is a nonviolent movement. We have never and will never use violence to achieve our goals,” the organization tweeted. “The far right is threatened by our movement, and by our solidarity with other movements.”

Shakur, a member of the extremist Black Liberation Army, was serving a life sentence for murder when she escaped from a New Jersey prison. She was charged with murder after she and some companions gunned down New Jersey state troopers during a traffic stop.

The Women’s March said they respected Shakur as a “feminist figure”  because she used her leadership to challenge “sexism” in the Black Liberation Movement.

#AssataShakur‘s resistance tactics were different from ours. That does not mean that we do not respect her anti-sexism work,” the organization tweeted. “#AssataShakur took a militant approach. We do not. That does not mean we don’t respect and appreciate her anti-racism work.”

The Women’s March also blamed the “right wing” for having a history of trying to discredit political activists.

“We say this to demonstrate the ongoing history of government & right-wing attempts to criminalize and discredit political activists,” the group said.

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