A Democrat candidate vying for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Angie Nixon, a self-proclaimed member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is now openly defending her decision to prominently display portraits of convicted cop killer Assata Shakur in her Jacksonville cafe and bookstore, “Cafe Resistance.” Nixon, incredibly, refers to Shakur and others like her as “civil rights leaders,” despite Shakur’s notorious past on the FBI’s list of “most wanted terrorists” for her role in the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper.
Nixon, who is challenging Republican Senator Ashley Moody, launched “Cafe Resistance” claiming it was a haven for those whose “freedoms” were under attack and where “no places for us to be safely” existed. She also accused her political opponents of trying to “ban the teaching of true history, particularly true black history.”
“And so I wanted to open the space so everyone can feel welcome, and so where we can organize and build power,” Nixon said in 2024. “And so I’m just super honored and excited to be in this fight with you all, and just, you know, whatever you need to say to gather to build power to do the work. Please just know that this place is available for you all.”
Yet, the very “safe space” Nixon touts is used to lionize figures like Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Deborah Chesimard. Shakur was convicted in 1973 for the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and the wounding of Trooper James Harper during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. She later escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where she remains a fugitive.
Nixon has not shied away from referencing Shakur on the campaign trail, even quoting her in a church. This public embrace of a convicted cop killer raises serious questions about Nixon’s judgment and her understanding of “civil rights” and “history.”
During a recent interview, Nixon revealed that her bookstore is financially struggling, requiring her to infuse her own cash to keep it afloat. She used this admission to pivot to an attack on Sen. Moody, accusing her of sending a “heckler” to disrupt a press conference at her cafe.
“I had a heckler, a tracker, someone that Ashley Moody sent to my shop the other day as I was doing a press conference talking trash about who I had on my walls,” Nixon stated. She then doubled down on her controversial displays, saying, “Who I had on my walls were civil rights leaders that wind up like getting convicted or like tried for like, you know, robbery or killing police officers – just all types of things.”
Nixon attempted to walk back her shocking claim about these “civil rights leaders” being convicted for serious crimes, vaguely suggesting, “Not all, right? Maybe. I don’t know. Possibly. A lot of them maintain their innocence.” This half-hearted plea of ignorance is quickly abandoned as she defends the inclusion of Shakur and Angela Davis, another controversial figure, by declaring, “it’s history. We don’t know our history.”
The DSA member went on to explain her warped view of history:
We don’t know our history, and history is — some history is good, it’s bad, it’s messy, it’s ugly, but it needs to be learned, and so we need to teach our history, not just the whitewashed, sanitized version, right? Like we need to teach the versions where our people were fighting and resisting, right? Even if they like wind up getting locked up because of it, like, like that is what needs to be taught.
To many, this is not a pursuit of “unwhitewashed history,” but rather a dangerous attempt to normalize and even glorify criminal acts, including the murder of law enforcement officers, under the guise of “resistance.”
This pattern of admiration for figures like Shakur is not new for Nixon. On the campaign trail, she has echoed Shakur's words, stating at one church gathering, “I’m gonna open this up for questions, but I’m gonna leave y’all with these words of a famous freedom fighter before we open it up: Assata Shakur.”
She then recited Shakur's infamous rallying cry: “‘It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains.’”
For a candidate seeking to represent Floridians in the U.S. Senate, aligning with and celebrating a convicted cop killer and FBI-listed terrorist sends a chilling message about her values and priorities. This isn’t about teaching "messy history"; it's about validating a radical, anti-law enforcement ideology that undermines the very fabric of public safety and American values. Voters deserve leaders who champion law and order, not those who celebrate its most egregious violators, re-branding them as heroes in a dangerous ideological game.
