CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill has been defending his tweet that wished a "Happy 70th Birthday" to a convicted cop killer currently on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists.
Hill posted his birthday wish to Asata Shakur Monday night and used the hashtags "HandsOffAssata."
Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, the godmother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, is suspected in a series of early 1970s incidents linked to black revolutionary groups in New York City -- including a bank robbery, grenade attack and the ambushing of police officers in Queens and Brooklyn.
She was convicted of shooting a New Jersey trooper to death in 1973, but she escaped prison and, in the early 1980s, fled to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum.
Hill, who is also a professor of media and communication at Temple University, tweeted Tuesday that he believed Shakur to be "INNOCENT" and "WRONGLY CONVICTED."
Hill's tweets came days after organizers of the Women's March tweeted their own tribute to Shakur Sunday night.
The post created a firestorm on Twitter, with many slamming the group for celebrating the birthday of a wanted fugitive.
Radio host Dana Loesch, who has been targeted by the group for her pro-NRA ad, also responded to the tweet.
The Women's March has celebrated controversial individuals in the past, including Donna Hylton, who was convicted of kidnapping a man and torturing him to death.
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