Biography
Michael Finney was a member of the Republic of New Afrika, the Black-nationalist movement seeking an independent Black nation in the Deep South. After New Mexico State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom was shot and killed during a November 8, 1971 traffic stop outside Albuquerque, Finney and fellow members Charlie Hill and Ralph Goodwin evaded capture and, on November 27, 1971, hijacked TWA Flight 106 to Havana, where they were granted political asylum by Fidel Castro. Finney remained in Cuba for the rest of his life and died of throat cancer in Havana in 2005, never having returned to the United States.
