Symbionese Liberation Army
Encyclopedia
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant
group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary
vanguard
army
. The group committed bank robberies, two murder
s, and other acts of violence.
The SLA became internationally notorious for kidnapping media heiress Patty Hearst
, abducting the 19-year-old as she and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Steven Weed, sat relaxing in their Berkeley, California
, home. Interest increased when Hearst, in audiotaped messages delivered to (and broadcast by) regional news media, denounced her parents and announced she had joined the SLA. She was subsequently observed participating in their illegal activities. Hearst later alleged that she had been held in close confinement, sexually assaulted and brainwashed.
wrote, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word 'symbiosis' and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body."
Although the SLA considered themselves leaders of the black revolution, DeFreeze was its only black member. His seven-headed SLA cobra
symbol was based on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, with each head representing a principle. The Swahili words for these seven principles are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).
The appearance of the symbol of the seven-headed cobra
on SLA propaganda indicates that it was copied from the ancient Sri Lanka
n / India
n seven-headed nāga
; carved stones depicting a seven-headed cobra are commonly found near the sluices of the ancient irrigation
tanks in Sri Lanka and are believed to have been placed there as guardians of the water. The particular graphic of the seven-headed cobra used by the SLA may have been copied from an illustration in The Lost Continent of Mu by James Churchward
.
and a group known as the Black Cultural Association
in Soledad prison
. The idea of a South American–styled urban guerrilla
movement, similar to the Tupamaros
movement in Uruguay
, combined with Régis Debray
's theory of urban warfare and ideas drawn from Maoism
, appealed to a number of people, including Patricia Michelle Soltysik (a.k.a. "Mizmoon"). The SLA may also have been influenced by the US-German philosopher Herbert Marcuse
, who had come to Berkeley from Brandeis in 1965 and who taught that the revolutionary initiative in "developed" societies is taken over by "outsiders" (the unemployed, for instance) and radical students. Even Jack London
's The Iron Heel
, published in 1907, a socialistic science-fiction novel about an early revolutionary organization, might have been a first inspiration.
Some activists within the New Left
compared America's prison system to concentration camps designed to oppress African Americans. They believed that a majority of African American convicts were political prisoners, and that Black power
ideology would naturally appeal to them. Group member Willie Wolfe developed this ideology into a plan for action, linking student activists with prison militants.
, a.k.a. "General Field Marshal Cinque". He had been serving 5–15 years for robbing a prostitute. DeFreeze took the name Cinque from the leader of the slave
rebellion who took over the slave ship
Amistad
in 1839. DeFreeze escaped from the Soledad State Prison
on March 5, 1973 by simply walking away while on work duty in a boiler room located outside the perimeter fence
.
DeFreeze has been accused by some sources of being an informant from 1967 to 1969 for the Public Disorder Intelligence Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department.
DeFreeze had been active in the Black Cultural Association
while at the California Medical Facility
, a state prison facility in Vacaville, California, where he had made contacts with members of Venceremos. He sought refuge among these contacts, and ended up at a commune known as Peking House in the San Francisco Bay area
. For some time he shared living quarters with future SLA members Willie Wolfe and Russell Little, then moved in with Patricia Michelle Soltysik. DeFreeze and Soltysik became lovers and began to outline the plans for founding the "Symbionese Nation".
, two members of the SLA killed school superintendent Marcus Foster
and badly wounded his deputy, Robert Blackburn, as the two men left an Oakland school board meeting. The hollow-point bullets used to kill Foster had been packed with cyanide
.
The SLA had condemned Foster for his plan to introduce identification cards into Oakland schools. The SLA called him "fascist". Ironically, Foster had originally opposed the use of identification cards in his schools, and his plan was a watered-down version of other similar proposals. Foster, an African American, was popular on the Left
and in the black community.
On January 10, 1974, Joseph Remiro and Russell Little were arrested and charged with Foster's murder, and initially both men were convicted of murder. Both men received sentences of life imprisonment. Seven years later, on June 5, 1981, Little's conviction was overturned by the California Court of Appeal, and he was later acquitted in a retrial in Monterey County.
Little has stated: "Who actually pulled the trigger that killed Foster was Mizmoon
. Nancy
was supposed to shoot Blackburn, she kind of botched that and DeFreeze
ended up shooting him with a shotgun."
(FBI) at one abandoned safe house
revealed that an action was planned for the "full moon of January 17". The FBI did not take any precautions, and the SLA did not act until a month later. On February 4, 1974, publishing heiress Patty Hearst
, a sophomore at the University of California at Berkeley, was kidnapped from her Berkeley residence at Apartment 4, 2603 Benvenue Avenue. The SLA had chosen to kidnap Hearst to increase the news coverage of the incident.
Initially, the SLA issued an ultimatum to the Hearst family: that they would release Patty in exchange for the freedom of Remiro and Little. When such an arrangement proved impossible, the SLA demanded a ransom, in the form of a food distribution program. The value of food to be distributed fluctuated: on February 23 the demand was for $4 million; it peaked at $400 million. Although free food was distributed, the operation initially came to a halt when violence erupted at one of the four distribution points. This happened because the crowds were much greater than expected, and people were injured as panicked workers threw boxes of food off moving trucks into the crowd. After the SLA demanded that a community coalition called the Western Addition Project Area Committee be put in charge of the food distribution, 100,000 bags of groceries were handed out at 16 locations across four counties between February 26 and the end of March.
The FBI was conducting an ineffective search, and the SLA took refuge in a number of safe houses. While in the SLA's custody, Hearst claims she was subjected to a series of ordeals that her mother would later describe as "brainwashing". The change in Hearst's politics has been attributed to the Stockholm syndrome
, a psychological response in which a hostage exhibits apparent loyalty to the abductor. Hearst was later examined by specialist psychologist Margaret Singer
, who came to the same conclusion.
Although Hearst's attorney, F. Lee Bailey, used the Stockholm syndrome argument in her defense at trial, the first attorney that she worked with, Terence Hallinan
, was planning to argue involuntary intoxication, a side effect of which is amnesia, due to similarities in her reactions after capture to previous experiences taking acid
with her boyfriend Steven Weed.
At Hearst's subsequent trial, her lawyer claimed that she had been confined in a closet barely large enough for her to lie down in; that her contact with the outside world was regulated by her captors; and that she was regularly threatened with execution. In addition, Hearst's lawyer contended that she had been raped by DeFreeze and Wolfe, but, because both men died before Hearst's capture and trial, charges were never brought against them. Hearst was thought to have had a relationship with Willie Wolf, and described him at one point as "the gentlest, most beautiful man I've ever known". The SLA claimed to be holding Hearst according to the conditions of the Geneva convention.
With each successive taped communiqué, Hearst voiced increasing support for the aims of the SLA. She eventually denounced her former life, her parents, and fiancé. At that point, she claimed that when the SLA had given her the option of being released or joining the SLA, she chose the latter. After she adopted the SLA's ideology, she announced that she was using the nom de guerre "Tania".
Hearst participated in the robbery, holding a rifle, and the security camera footage of Hearst became an iconic image. (Hearst was tried and convicted for her involvement in the Hibernia Bank robbery. Her sentence was later commuted by Jimmy Carter
and her crime eventually pardoned by Bill Clinton
.) She has denied willing involvement in the robbery in her book, Every Secret Thing. The outlaw group was able to get away with over $10,000.
, and thus alienated the people who were ensuring their secrecy and protection. At this stage, the imprisoned SLA member Russell Little claimed that he believed the SLA had entirely lost sight of its goals and entered into a confrontation with the police rather than a political dialogue with the public.
On May 16, 1974, "Teko" and "Yolanda" (William and Emily Harris
) entered Mel's Sporting Goods Store in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California
to shop for supplies. While Yolanda made the purchases, Teko on a whim decided to shoplift socks. When a security guard confronted him, Teko brandished a revolver. The guard knocked the gun out of his hand and placed a handcuff on William's left wrist. Hearst, on armed lookout from the group's van across the street, began shooting up the store's overhead sign. Everyone in the store took cover and they drove off with Hearst.
As a result of the botched-shoplifting incident, the police acquired the address of the safehouse from a parking ticket in the glove box of the van (the vehicle had been abandoned). The rest of the SLA fled the safehouse when they saw the events on the news. The SLA took over a house occupied by Christine Johnson and Minnie Lewisin. One of the people in the house at the time was a then-17-year-old neighbor named Brenda Daniels who was sleeping on the couch. Brenda recalls the events that day:
The next day, an anonymous phone call to the Los Angeles Police Department
(LAPD) stated that several heavily armed people were staying at the caller's daughter's house. That afternoon, more than 400 LAPD officers, under the command of Captain Mervin King
, along with the FBI, California Highway Patrol
, and Los Angeles Fire Department
surrounded the neighborhood. The leader of a SWAT
team used a bullhorn to announce, "Occupants of 1466 East 54th Street, this is the Los Angeles Police Department speaking. Come out with your hands up!" A young child walked out, along with an older man. The man stated that no one else was in the house, but the child intervened stating that several people were in the house with guns and ammo belts. After several more attempts to get anyone else to leave the house, a member of the SWAT team fired tear gas projectiles into the house. This was answered by heavy bursts of automatic gunfire, and a battle began.
Two hours later, the house caught fire. Two women left from the rear of the house and one came out the front (she had come in drunk the previous night, passed out, and woken up in the middle of the siege); all were taken into custody, but were found not to be SLA members. Automatic weapons fire continued from the house. At this point, Nancy Ling Perry
and Camilla Hall
came out of the house. Investigators working for their parents would claim that they walked out intending to surrender and that they were unarmed but police later stated that Hall was shot in the head by police as she charged towards them and Perry was providing covering fire. After Hall's body fell to the ground, it was pulled back inside the burning house by Angela Atwood
. Perry followed Hall out of the house and was shot twice in the back. Her body remained outside the house.
The rest died inside, from smoke inhalation, burns and gunshot wounds. According to the coroner's report, it was concluded that Donald DeFreeze
committed suicide, although family members inspecting his remains noticed that DeFreeze had been decapitated. After the shooting stopped and the fire was extinguished, 19 firearms—including rifles, pistols, and shotguns—were recovered. Several thousands of rounds had been fired out of the house by the SLA and police in response had fired several thousands of rounds into the house. This remains one of the largest police shootouts in history with a reported total of over 9,000 rounds being fired. Every round fired by SLA members at the police missed the officers.
The SLA dead were: Nancy Ling Perry
("Fahizah"), Angela Atwood
("General Gelina"), Willie Wolfe ("Kahjoh", misspelled by the media at the time as "Cujo", who was reported to be Patricia Hearst's lover), Donald DeFreeze
("Cinque"), and Patricia Soltysik ("Mizmoon," "Zoya"). Most of the bodies were found huddled in a crawl space under the house, which had burned down around them.
New broadcasting technology (smaller portable cameras and more nimble and versatile mobile units that made it easier to cover unfolding news events) had recently been acquired by area TV stations, so Hearst and the Harrises were able to watch the televised siege live from their hotel room in Anaheim.
and protection of student radical households. At this time, a number of new members gravitated towards the SLA. The active participants at this time were: Bill and Emily Harris, Patty Hearst, Wendy Yoshimura
, Kathleen and Steve Soliah, James Kilgore and Michael Bortin.
in Carmichael, California
, and in doing so killed Myrna Opsahl
, a bank customer. Hearst claimed to have been sitting in the getaway car.
Much later, Patty Hearst, after being granted immunity from prosecution for this crime, claimed that Emily Harris, Kathleen Soliah
(later aka Sara Jane Olson), Michael Bortin, and James Kilgore actually committed the robbery, while she and Wendy Yoshimura
were getaway drivers and William Harris and Steven Soliah acted as lookouts. Hearst also claimed that Opsahl was killed by Emily Harris, but that she was not a witness.
on September 18, 1975. In her affidavit she claimed that SLA members had used LSD
to drug her and forced her to take part in the bank raid. However, Hearst's recorded statements, along with the fact that she had not escaped when she had the opportunity, made many think she had thrown in her lot with the revolutionaries. Despite her claims, she was convicted of the Hibernia Bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served 21 months when her sentence was commuted by US President Jimmy Carter
. She was pardoned by President Bill Clinton
on his last day in office.
On August 21, 1975, Kathleen Soliah
failed in her attempt to kill officers of the LAPD when the bombs she placed under a police car did not detonate.
Soliah remained a fugitive, first in Rhodesia
, and then in Minnesota
under the alias Sara Jane Olson; she was married to a doctor and had three daughters.
The FBI caught up with and arrested Sara Jane Olson in 1999 after a tip was received by the television show America's Most Wanted
, which had aired her profile. In 2001, she pleaded guilty to possession of explosives with the intent to murder and was sentenced to two consecutive ten-years-to-life terms, after being told as part of plea bargain that she would serve only eight years.
On January 16, 2002, first-degree murder charges for the killing of Myrna Opsahl
were filed against Sara Jane Olson, the Harrises, Bortin, and Kilgore. All were living "above ground" and were immediately arrested except for James Kilgore, who remained at large for nearly another year.
On November 7, Soliah, the Harrises, and Bortin pled guilty to those charges. Emily Harris, now known as Emily Montague, admitted to being the one holding the murder weapon, but said that the shotgun went off accidentally. Hearst claims that Montague had dismissed the murder at the time saying, "She was a bourgeois pig anyway. Her husband is a doctor." In court, Montague denied this and said "I do not want [the Opsahl family] to believe that we ever considered her life insignificant."
Sentences were handed down on February 14, 2003 in Sacramento, California
for all four defendants in the Opsahl murder case. Montague was sentenced to eight years for the murder (2nd degree). Her former husband, William Harris, got seven years, and Bortin got six years. Soliah has had six years added to the 14-year sentence she is already serving. All sentences were the maximum allowed under their plea bargains.
On November 8, 2002 James Kilgore, who had been a fugitive since 1975, was arrested in South Africa
and extradited to the United States to face federal explosives and passport fraud charges. Prosecutors alleged a pipe bomb was found in Kilgore's apartment in 1975, and that he obtained a passport under a false name. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2003.
Sara Jane Olson was expecting a five-year, four-month sentence, but "in stiffening Olson's sentence two years ago, the prison board turned to a seldom-used section of state law, allowing it to recalculate sentences for old crimes in light of new, tougher sentencing guidelines." Olson was sentenced to 14 years, later reduced to 13 years, plus six for her role in the Opsahl killing. Hearst had immunity because she was a state's witness, but as there was no trial she never testified.
On April 26, 2004, Kilgore was sentenced to 54 months in prison for the explosives and passport fraud charges. He was the last remaining SLA member to face federal prosecution.
After serving six years of the prison sentence, Sarah Olsen was released on parole
and reunited with her family in California on March 17, 2008. But after a discovery that her release was premature due to a clerical error, an arrest warrant was issued. She was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and notified that her right to travel out of state had been rescinded. She was returned to prison.
On March 17, 2009 Sarah Olsen was released, this time correctly after serving 7 years of her 14-year sentence. She was to check in with her parole officer in Los Angeles where it would be determined if she would be allowed to serve her parole in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband and three daughters. Several officials, including the Governor of Minnesota, urged that she serve her parole in California.
On May 10, 2009, James Kilgore was released from prison in California. He was the last captured SLA member to be released.
Founding member Joseph Remiro remains in prison as of 2009.
Thus, Smith's version effectively casts Patty Hearst in the role of Joe "with a gun in her hand"—a violent criminal rebelling against the law and all civil authority. Before the fadeout, Smith sings in the voice of Hearst angrily repudiating both her privileged upbringing as well as the mainstream society which has condemned her as a spoiled, vacuous "pretty little rich girl" who became a terrorist. It is especially sobering to note that this particularly recording was made when Patty Hearst was still a fugitive and members of the SLA were still at large.
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
vanguard
Vanguardism
In the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology....
army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
. The group committed bank robberies, two murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
s, and other acts of violence.
The SLA became internationally notorious for kidnapping media heiress Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
, abducting the 19-year-old as she and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Steven Weed, sat relaxing in their Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, home. Interest increased when Hearst, in audiotaped messages delivered to (and broadcast by) regional news media, denounced her parents and announced she had joined the SLA. She was subsequently observed participating in their illegal activities. Hearst later alleged that she had been held in close confinement, sexually assaulted and brainwashed.
Beliefs and symbols
In his manifesto "Symbionese Liberation Army Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program", Donald DeFreezeDonald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
wrote, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word 'symbiosis' and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body."
Although the SLA considered themselves leaders of the black revolution, DeFreeze was its only black member. His seven-headed SLA cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
symbol was based on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, with each head representing a principle. The Swahili words for these seven principles are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).
The appearance of the symbol of the seven-headed cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
on SLA propaganda indicates that it was copied from the ancient Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n / India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n seven-headed nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
; carved stones depicting a seven-headed cobra are commonly found near the sluices of the ancient irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
tanks in Sri Lanka and are believed to have been placed there as guardians of the water. The particular graphic of the seven-headed cobra used by the SLA may have been copied from an illustration in The Lost Continent of Mu by James Churchward
James Churchward
James Churchward is best known as a British born occult writer. However, he was also a patented inventor, engineer, and expert fisherman....
.
Prison visits and political film
The SLA formed as a result of the prison visitation programs of the radical left-wing group Venceremos OrganizationVenceremos Organization
Venceremos, Spanish for "We Will Overcome", or "We Will Prevail", was a radical left political group which took its name from the battle cry of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a revolutionary communist leader from Argentina and high ranking member of Fidel Castro's communist government in Cuba.Venceremos...
and a group known as the Black Cultural Association
Black Cultural Association
The Black Cultural Association was an African American inmate group that was founded in 1968 at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, a California state prison, and formally recognized by prison officials in 1969....
in Soledad prison
Correctional Training Facility
Correctional Training Facility is a state prison located on U.S. Highway 101, north of Soledad, California. Randy Grounds is the current Warden of the prison.-Facilities:...
. The idea of a South American–styled urban guerrilla
Urban guerrilla warfare
Urban guerrilla redirects here. For the Hawkwind song, see Urban Guerrilla.Urban guerrilla refers to someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare in an urban environment...
movement, similar to the Tupamaros
Tupamaros
Tupamaros, also known as the MLN-T , was an urban guerrilla organization in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. The MLN-T is inextricably linked to its most important leader, Raúl Sendic, and his brand of social politics...
movement in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, combined with Régis Debray
Régis Debray
Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
's theory of urban warfare and ideas drawn from Maoism
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
, appealed to a number of people, including Patricia Michelle Soltysik (a.k.a. "Mizmoon"). The SLA may also have been influenced by the US-German philosopher Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
, who had come to Berkeley from Brandeis in 1965 and who taught that the revolutionary initiative in "developed" societies is taken over by "outsiders" (the unemployed, for instance) and radical students. Even Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
's The Iron Heel
The Iron Heel
The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908.Generally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian", it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are...
, published in 1907, a socialistic science-fiction novel about an early revolutionary organization, might have been a first inspiration.
Some activists within the New Left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
compared America's prison system to concentration camps designed to oppress African Americans. They believed that a majority of African American convicts were political prisoners, and that Black power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
ideology would naturally appeal to them. Group member Willie Wolfe developed this ideology into a plan for action, linking student activists with prison militants.
DeFreeze escapes prison
The SLA formed after the escape from prison by Donald DeFreezeDonald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
, a.k.a. "General Field Marshal Cinque". He had been serving 5–15 years for robbing a prostitute. DeFreeze took the name Cinque from the leader of the slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
rebellion who took over the slave ship
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
Amistad
La Amistad
La Amistad was a ship notable as the scene of a revolt by African captives being transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba. It was a 19th-century two-masted schooner built in Spain and owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba...
in 1839. DeFreeze escaped from the Soledad State Prison
Correctional Training Facility
Correctional Training Facility is a state prison located on U.S. Highway 101, north of Soledad, California. Randy Grounds is the current Warden of the prison.-Facilities:...
on March 5, 1973 by simply walking away while on work duty in a boiler room located outside the perimeter fence
Perimeter fence
A perimeter fence is a structure that circles the perimeter of an area to prevent access. These fences are frequently made out of single vertical metal bars connected at the top and bottom with a horizontal bar. They often have spikes on the top to prevent climbing. Residential perimeter fences are...
.
DeFreeze has been accused by some sources of being an informant from 1967 to 1969 for the Public Disorder Intelligence Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department.
DeFreeze had been active in the Black Cultural Association
Black Cultural Association
The Black Cultural Association was an African American inmate group that was founded in 1968 at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, a California state prison, and formally recognized by prison officials in 1969....
while at the California Medical Facility
Vacaville Prison
Two prisons are located in Vacaville, California, USA:* California Medical Facility * California State Prison, SolanoThese two prisons are located together at the base of several hills on the outskirts of Vacaville. These prisons are also located fairly close to Travis Air Force Base.See also: List...
, a state prison facility in Vacaville, California, where he had made contacts with members of Venceremos. He sought refuge among these contacts, and ended up at a commune known as Peking House in the San Francisco Bay area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. For some time he shared living quarters with future SLA members Willie Wolfe and Russell Little, then moved in with Patricia Michelle Soltysik. DeFreeze and Soltysik became lovers and began to outline the plans for founding the "Symbionese Nation".
Murder of Marcus Foster
On November 6, 1973, in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, two members of the SLA killed school superintendent Marcus Foster
Marcus Foster
Marcus Albert Foster was a respected African-American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, and as the first black...
and badly wounded his deputy, Robert Blackburn, as the two men left an Oakland school board meeting. The hollow-point bullets used to kill Foster had been packed with cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
.
The SLA had condemned Foster for his plan to introduce identification cards into Oakland schools. The SLA called him "fascist". Ironically, Foster had originally opposed the use of identification cards in his schools, and his plan was a watered-down version of other similar proposals. Foster, an African American, was popular on the Left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and in the black community.
On January 10, 1974, Joseph Remiro and Russell Little were arrested and charged with Foster's murder, and initially both men were convicted of murder. Both men received sentences of life imprisonment. Seven years later, on June 5, 1981, Little's conviction was overturned by the California Court of Appeal, and he was later acquitted in a retrial in Monterey County.
Little has stated: "Who actually pulled the trigger that killed Foster was Mizmoon
Patricia Soltysik
Patricia "Mizmoon" Monique Soltysik was one of the founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Early life:She was the daughter of a pharmacist, the third of seven children, the oldest of five girls...
. Nancy
Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry also known as Nancy Devote, Lynn Ledworth, and Fahizah was an American member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Background:...
was supposed to shoot Blackburn, she kind of botched that and DeFreeze
Donald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
ended up shooting him with a shotgun."
Kidnapping of Patty Hearst
In response to the arrests of Remiro and Little, the SLA began planning their next action: the kidnapping of an important figure to negotiate the release of their imprisoned members. Documents found by the US Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) at one abandoned safe house
Safe house
In the jargon of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, a safe house is a secure location, suitable for hiding witnesses, agents or other persons perceived as being in danger...
revealed that an action was planned for the "full moon of January 17". The FBI did not take any precautions, and the SLA did not act until a month later. On February 4, 1974, publishing heiress Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
, a sophomore at the University of California at Berkeley, was kidnapped from her Berkeley residence at Apartment 4, 2603 Benvenue Avenue. The SLA had chosen to kidnap Hearst to increase the news coverage of the incident.
Initially, the SLA issued an ultimatum to the Hearst family: that they would release Patty in exchange for the freedom of Remiro and Little. When such an arrangement proved impossible, the SLA demanded a ransom, in the form of a food distribution program. The value of food to be distributed fluctuated: on February 23 the demand was for $4 million; it peaked at $400 million. Although free food was distributed, the operation initially came to a halt when violence erupted at one of the four distribution points. This happened because the crowds were much greater than expected, and people were injured as panicked workers threw boxes of food off moving trucks into the crowd. After the SLA demanded that a community coalition called the Western Addition Project Area Committee be put in charge of the food distribution, 100,000 bags of groceries were handed out at 16 locations across four counties between February 26 and the end of March.
Conditions of the initial captivity of Patty Hearst
Stockholm syndrome
In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them...
, a psychological response in which a hostage exhibits apparent loyalty to the abductor. Hearst was later examined by specialist psychologist Margaret Singer
Margaret Singer
Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, was a clinical psychologist and a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S....
, who came to the same conclusion.
Although Hearst's attorney, F. Lee Bailey, used the Stockholm syndrome argument in her defense at trial, the first attorney that she worked with, Terence Hallinan
Terence Hallinan
Terence Hallinan is an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He is the second of six sons born to leftist attorney Vincent Hallinan and his wife Vivian....
, was planning to argue involuntary intoxication, a side effect of which is amnesia, due to similarities in her reactions after capture to previous experiences taking acid
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
with her boyfriend Steven Weed.
At Hearst's subsequent trial, her lawyer claimed that she had been confined in a closet barely large enough for her to lie down in; that her contact with the outside world was regulated by her captors; and that she was regularly threatened with execution. In addition, Hearst's lawyer contended that she had been raped by DeFreeze and Wolfe, but, because both men died before Hearst's capture and trial, charges were never brought against them. Hearst was thought to have had a relationship with Willie Wolf, and described him at one point as "the gentlest, most beautiful man I've ever known". The SLA claimed to be holding Hearst according to the conditions of the Geneva convention.
Political inculcation
The SLA subjected Hearst to indoctrination in SLA ideology. In Hearst's taped recordings, used to announce demands and conditions, Hearst can first be heard extemporaneously expressing SLA ideology on day 13 of her capture.With each successive taped communiqué, Hearst voiced increasing support for the aims of the SLA. She eventually denounced her former life, her parents, and fiancé. At that point, she claimed that when the SLA had given her the option of being released or joining the SLA, she chose the latter. After she adopted the SLA's ideology, she announced that she was using the nom de guerre "Tania".
Activities during the period of Hearst's membership
Hibernia Bank robbery
The next action taken by the SLA was to rob a branch of the Hibernia Bank at 1450 Noriega Street in San Francisco; during this incident, two civilians were shot. At 10:00 a.m. on April 15, 1974, SLA members burst into the bank.Hearst participated in the robbery, holding a rifle, and the security camera footage of Hearst became an iconic image. (Hearst was tried and convicted for her involvement in the Hibernia Bank robbery. Her sentence was later commuted by Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and her crime eventually pardoned by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.) She has denied willing involvement in the robbery in her book, Every Secret Thing. The outlaw group was able to get away with over $10,000.
Move to Los Angeles and police shootout
The SLA considered a move to Southern California. Cinque suggested moving the organization to his former neighborhood, where he had friends whom they might recruit. However, they relocated in a sloppy manner and had much difficulty in becoming established on their new turf. The SLA relied on commandeering housing and supplies in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and thus alienated the people who were ensuring their secrecy and protection. At this stage, the imprisoned SLA member Russell Little claimed that he believed the SLA had entirely lost sight of its goals and entered into a confrontation with the police rather than a political dialogue with the public.
On May 16, 1974, "Teko" and "Yolanda" (William and Emily Harris
Emily Harris (SLA)
Emily Harris was, along with her husband William Harris , a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a leftist United States group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst...
) entered Mel's Sporting Goods Store in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
to shop for supplies. While Yolanda made the purchases, Teko on a whim decided to shoplift socks. When a security guard confronted him, Teko brandished a revolver. The guard knocked the gun out of his hand and placed a handcuff on William's left wrist. Hearst, on armed lookout from the group's van across the street, began shooting up the store's overhead sign. Everyone in the store took cover and they drove off with Hearst.
As a result of the botched-shoplifting incident, the police acquired the address of the safehouse from a parking ticket in the glove box of the van (the vehicle had been abandoned). The rest of the SLA fled the safehouse when they saw the events on the news. The SLA took over a house occupied by Christine Johnson and Minnie Lewisin. One of the people in the house at the time was a then-17-year-old neighbor named Brenda Daniels who was sleeping on the couch. Brenda recalls the events that day:
The next day, an anonymous phone call to the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
(LAPD) stated that several heavily armed people were staying at the caller's daughter's house. That afternoon, more than 400 LAPD officers, under the command of Captain Mervin King
Mervin King
Mervin Paul King , was a Captain for the Los Angeles Police Department who commanded officers during the SLA shootout in 1974.-Biography:...
, along with the FBI, California Highway Patrol
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....
, and Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles....
surrounded the neighborhood. The leader of a SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team used a bullhorn to announce, "Occupants of 1466 East 54th Street, this is the Los Angeles Police Department speaking. Come out with your hands up!" A young child walked out, along with an older man. The man stated that no one else was in the house, but the child intervened stating that several people were in the house with guns and ammo belts. After several more attempts to get anyone else to leave the house, a member of the SWAT team fired tear gas projectiles into the house. This was answered by heavy bursts of automatic gunfire, and a battle began.
Two hours later, the house caught fire. Two women left from the rear of the house and one came out the front (she had come in drunk the previous night, passed out, and woken up in the middle of the siege); all were taken into custody, but were found not to be SLA members. Automatic weapons fire continued from the house. At this point, Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry also known as Nancy Devote, Lynn Ledworth, and Fahizah was an American member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Background:...
and Camilla Hall
Camilla Hall
Camilla Christine Hall was an artist, college trained social worker, and an early member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Early life:...
came out of the house. Investigators working for their parents would claim that they walked out intending to surrender and that they were unarmed but police later stated that Hall was shot in the head by police as she charged towards them and Perry was providing covering fire. After Hall's body fell to the ground, it was pulled back inside the burning house by Angela Atwood
Angela Atwood
Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.-Background:...
. Perry followed Hall out of the house and was shot twice in the back. Her body remained outside the house.
The rest died inside, from smoke inhalation, burns and gunshot wounds. According to the coroner's report, it was concluded that Donald DeFreeze
Donald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
committed suicide, although family members inspecting his remains noticed that DeFreeze had been decapitated. After the shooting stopped and the fire was extinguished, 19 firearms—including rifles, pistols, and shotguns—were recovered. Several thousands of rounds had been fired out of the house by the SLA and police in response had fired several thousands of rounds into the house. This remains one of the largest police shootouts in history with a reported total of over 9,000 rounds being fired. Every round fired by SLA members at the police missed the officers.
The SLA dead were: Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry also known as Nancy Devote, Lynn Ledworth, and Fahizah was an American member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Background:...
("Fahizah"), Angela Atwood
Angela Atwood
Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.-Background:...
("General Gelina"), Willie Wolfe ("Kahjoh", misspelled by the media at the time as "Cujo", who was reported to be Patricia Hearst's lover), Donald DeFreeze
Donald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
("Cinque"), and Patricia Soltysik ("Mizmoon," "Zoya"). Most of the bodies were found huddled in a crawl space under the house, which had burned down around them.
New broadcasting technology (smaller portable cameras and more nimble and versatile mobile units that made it easier to cover unfolding news events) had recently been acquired by area TV stations, so Hearst and the Harrises were able to watch the televised siege live from their hotel room in Anaheim.
Return to the Bay Area
As a result of the siege, the remaining SLA members returned to the relative safety of the San Francisco Bay areaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
and protection of student radical households. At this time, a number of new members gravitated towards the SLA. The active participants at this time were: Bill and Emily Harris, Patty Hearst, Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
, Kathleen and Steve Soliah, James Kilgore and Michael Bortin.
Crocker Bank robbery
On April 28, 1975, the remaining members of the SLA robbed the Crocker National BankCrocker National Bank
Crocker National Bank was a United States bank headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was acquired by and merged into Wells Fargo Bank in 1986.-History:The bank traces its history to the Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco...
in Carmichael, California
Carmichael, California
Carmichael is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 61,762 at the 2010 census, up from 49,742 at the 2000 census.-Geography and geology:Carmichael...
, and in doing so killed Myrna Opsahl
Myrna Opsahl
Myrna Opsahl was a church worker, a mother of four, and a murder victim of the Symbionese Liberation Army. She died in April 1975 during a Carmichael, California, bank robbery...
, a bank customer. Hearst claimed to have been sitting in the getaway car.
Much later, Patty Hearst, after being granted immunity from prosecution for this crime, claimed that Emily Harris, Kathleen Soliah
Kathleen Soliah
Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
(later aka Sara Jane Olson), Michael Bortin, and James Kilgore actually committed the robbery, while she and Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
were getaway drivers and William Harris and Steven Soliah acted as lookouts. Hearst also claimed that Opsahl was killed by Emily Harris, but that she was not a witness.
Capture and conviction
Patricia Hearst, after a long and highly publicized search, was captured with Wendy YoshimuraWendy Yoshimura
Wendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
on September 18, 1975. In her affidavit she claimed that SLA members had used LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
to drug her and forced her to take part in the bank raid. However, Hearst's recorded statements, along with the fact that she had not escaped when she had the opportunity, made many think she had thrown in her lot with the revolutionaries. Despite her claims, she was convicted of the Hibernia Bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served 21 months when her sentence was commuted by US President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. She was pardoned by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
on his last day in office.
On August 21, 1975, Kathleen Soliah
Kathleen Soliah
Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
failed in her attempt to kill officers of the LAPD when the bombs she placed under a police car did not detonate.
Soliah remained a fugitive, first in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, and then in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
under the alias Sara Jane Olson; she was married to a doctor and had three daughters.
The FBI caught up with and arrested Sara Jane Olson in 1999 after a tip was received by the television show America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
, which had aired her profile. In 2001, she pleaded guilty to possession of explosives with the intent to murder and was sentenced to two consecutive ten-years-to-life terms, after being told as part of plea bargain that she would serve only eight years.
On January 16, 2002, first-degree murder charges for the killing of Myrna Opsahl
Myrna Opsahl
Myrna Opsahl was a church worker, a mother of four, and a murder victim of the Symbionese Liberation Army. She died in April 1975 during a Carmichael, California, bank robbery...
were filed against Sara Jane Olson, the Harrises, Bortin, and Kilgore. All were living "above ground" and were immediately arrested except for James Kilgore, who remained at large for nearly another year.
On November 7, Soliah, the Harrises, and Bortin pled guilty to those charges. Emily Harris, now known as Emily Montague, admitted to being the one holding the murder weapon, but said that the shotgun went off accidentally. Hearst claims that Montague had dismissed the murder at the time saying, "She was a bourgeois pig anyway. Her husband is a doctor." In court, Montague denied this and said "I do not want [the Opsahl family] to believe that we ever considered her life insignificant."
Sentences were handed down on February 14, 2003 in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
for all four defendants in the Opsahl murder case. Montague was sentenced to eight years for the murder (2nd degree). Her former husband, William Harris, got seven years, and Bortin got six years. Soliah has had six years added to the 14-year sentence she is already serving. All sentences were the maximum allowed under their plea bargains.
On November 8, 2002 James Kilgore, who had been a fugitive since 1975, was arrested in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and extradited to the United States to face federal explosives and passport fraud charges. Prosecutors alleged a pipe bomb was found in Kilgore's apartment in 1975, and that he obtained a passport under a false name. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2003.
Sara Jane Olson was expecting a five-year, four-month sentence, but "in stiffening Olson's sentence two years ago, the prison board turned to a seldom-used section of state law, allowing it to recalculate sentences for old crimes in light of new, tougher sentencing guidelines." Olson was sentenced to 14 years, later reduced to 13 years, plus six for her role in the Opsahl killing. Hearst had immunity because she was a state's witness, but as there was no trial she never testified.
On April 26, 2004, Kilgore was sentenced to 54 months in prison for the explosives and passport fraud charges. He was the last remaining SLA member to face federal prosecution.
After serving six years of the prison sentence, Sarah Olsen was released on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
and reunited with her family in California on March 17, 2008. But after a discovery that her release was premature due to a clerical error, an arrest warrant was issued. She was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and notified that her right to travel out of state had been rescinded. She was returned to prison.
On March 17, 2009 Sarah Olsen was released, this time correctly after serving 7 years of her 14-year sentence. She was to check in with her parole officer in Los Angeles where it would be determined if she would be allowed to serve her parole in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband and three daughters. Several officials, including the Governor of Minnesota, urged that she serve her parole in California.
On May 10, 2009, James Kilgore was released from prison in California. He was the last captured SLA member to be released.
Founding member Joseph Remiro remains in prison as of 2009.
In film
The SLA distributed photographs, news releases and radio-quality taped interviews in which they explained their past activities to the press. The first television media frenzy orchestrated by the SLA occurred outside the Hearst family residence at the time of Hearst's kidnapping.Documentaries
- Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst, directed by Robert Stone, 2004. (Released under the alternate title : Neverland: The Rise and Fall of the Symbionese Liberation Army.)
Dramas and docu-dramas
- Abduction, directed by Joseph Zito, 1975. (Based on Black Abductors by Harrison James)
- Tanya, directed by Nate Rodgers, 1976. (Also known as Sex Queen of the SLA)
- PattyPatty (film)Tanya is a low-budget 1976 comedy film directed by Nate Rodgers and loosely based on the experiences of Patricia Hearst. The lead character, Charlotte Kane, is 20-year-old heiress of a newspaper mogul. She is kidnapped by five sex-crazed pseudo-relovutionaries who call themselves "The Symphonic...
, (1976), directed by Robert L. Roberts. - Patty HearstPatty Hearst (film)Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress Patricia Hearst and Ving Rhames as Symbionese Liberation Army leader Cinque...
, based on Hearst's autobiography Every Secret Thing, directed by Paul Schrader, 1988.
Teleplay
- The Ordeal of Patty Hearst, 1979 (TV).
- SLA Gunfight Los Angeles, Combat Zone episode 8, 2007 (Cable series,The Military Channel)
Satire
- Citizen Tania, 19891989 in film-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
(video only), a satirical docudrama directed by Raymond PettibonRaymond PettibonRaymond Pettibon is an American artist who currently lives and works in Venice Beach, California.-Early life:...
and Dave MarkeyDave MarkeyDave Markey is an American film director.As a self-taught filmmaker and musician, Markey directed, produced, edited, and photographed most of his films, the majority of which has been self-funded and distributed. His work documents the punk scene in Southern California throughout the 1980s and 1990s...
. - in the 19761976 in filmThe year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
Sidney LumetSidney LumetSidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
film NetworkNetwork (film)Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
, the SLA was paralleled with the fictional "Ecumenical Liberation Army", complete with a black leader and kidnapped heiress, confusing the characters as to which was which. - Hearst's kidnapping was also the inspiration for the plot of the 20002000 in filmThe year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
film Cecil B. DementedCecil B. DementedCecil B. Demented is a 2000 black comedy film written and directed by John Waters. The film stars Melanie Griffith as a snobby A-list Hollywood actress who is kidnapped by a band of terrorist filmmakers who force her to star in their underground film...
. (Patty Hearst had previously worked with Waters). - The SLA was also parodied in the film Anchorman 2: Wake Up Ron BurgundyWake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost MovieWake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie is an American comedy film assembled from abandoned subplots and unused alternate takes from the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy...
where they were represented by the activist group "The Alarm Clock". - The computer game Liberal Crime Squad by Tarn Adams is, in part, a parody of the idea that a group like the SLA could make America "more liberal".
- The SLA was parodied as the "Sunshine Carpet Cleaners" in SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
Season 8, Episode 7 "The Checks" when Mr. Wilhelm is brainwashed by the Cleaning Crew and tells George that his name is now "Tania". - John CusackJohn CusackJohn Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
portrays a self-proclaimed Symbionese rebel in the 1992 cult film Roadside ProphetsRoadside ProphetsRoadside Prophets is a 1992 cult film written and directed by Abbe Wool, featuring musicians John Doe of the L.A. punk band X, and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, with cameo appearances by, amongst others, Timothy Leary, Arlo Guthrie, David Carradine, an uncharacteristic performance by John...
. - The SLA was parodied as the "Semiconscious Liberation Army" in the card game IlluminatiIlluminati (game)Illuminati is a standalone card game made by Steve Jackson Games , inspired by The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. The game has ominous secret societies competing with each other to control the world through sinister means, including legal, illegal, and even mystical...
. - In the "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn" episode of Just Shoot Me, Nina is said to have been a part of the SLA.
In literature
- Trance, by Christopher SorrentinoChristopher SorrentinoChristopher Sorrentino is an American novelist and short story writer of Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist Gilbert Sorrentino and Victoria Ortiz...
, is a novel based loosely on the S.L.A. and the Hearst kidnapping. - Contemporary issues of Captain AmericaCaptain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
fictionalize the SLA as the Serpent SquadSerpent SquadThe Serpent Squad is a fictional mercenary group composed of snake-themed criminals in Marvel Comics. Most often antagonists of Captain America, the roster has changed through various incarnations...
, including the suicidal shootout & fire. - Prometheus RisingPrometheus RisingPrometheus Rising is a book by Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1983. It is a guide book of "how to get from here to there", an amalgam of Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness, Gurdjieff's self-observation exercises, Alfred Korzybski's general semantics, Aleister Crowley's magical...
, by Robert Anton WilsonRobert Anton WilsonRobert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
, mentions Patty Hearst several times, using her as an example of how one's beliefs can be manipulated. - "This Soldier Still At War" by John BryanJohn Bryan (journalist)John Charles Bryan was a newspaper publisher, editor and journalist who was best known for founding and running the Los Angeles alternative newspaper Open City...
is a biography of Vietnam War veteran and SLA member Joe Remiro. http://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Still-Remiro-Vietnam-trained/dp/B000J0MU6S
In music
- Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
's legendary 1974 cover of the popular 1960s song, "Hey JoeHey Joe"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
", begins with a salacious and provocative monologue about Patty Hearst and the SLA, which puts a feminist spin on the lyrics that were originally about a man who murders his adulterous wife and then flees to Mexico.
Thus, Smith's version effectively casts Patty Hearst in the role of Joe "with a gun in her hand"—a violent criminal rebelling against the law and all civil authority. Before the fadeout, Smith sings in the voice of Hearst angrily repudiating both her privileged upbringing as well as the mainstream society which has condemned her as a spoiled, vacuous "pretty little rich girl" who became a terrorist. It is especially sobering to note that this particularly recording was made when Patty Hearst was still a fugitive and members of the SLA were still at large.
- In the 1976 RamonesRamonesThe Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
song "Judy Is A Punk" the protagonists, Jackie and Judy, "both went down to Frisco, joined the SLA." - The 1976 Oingo BoingoOingo BoingoOingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
song "You Got Your Baby Back" is about the return of Patty Hearst to her father after the kidnapping. - The 1979 song "American in Me" by the American punk rock band Avengers has the line "See how they burned the SLA".
- The Misfits song "She" is about the kidnapped Patty Hearst.
- The Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983.An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk and alternative country, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a...
song "Tania", from the 1988 album Our Beloved Revolutionary SweetheartOur Beloved Revolutionary SweetheartOur Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart is a 1988 album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Virgin Records. It was the band's first major-label album, and was produced by Dennis Herring, the first time the band had used an outside producer....
, is about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst and her activities in the SLA. The album's title is from a lyric in the song. - The Warren ZevonWarren ZevonWarren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
song "Roland the Headless Thompson GunnerRoland the Headless Thompson Gunner"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a song composed by Warren Zevon and David Lindell and performed by Zevon. It was first released on his 1978 album Excitable Boy. It is the last song he ever performed in front of an audience, on the Late Show with David Letterman, before his death in...
" from 1978's Excitable BoyExcitable BoyExcitable Boy is the third album by Warren Zevon, released in 1978. It includes the top 40 success "Werewolves of London". The album brought Warren to commercial attention and remains the best-selling album of his career. A remastered and expanded edition was released during 2007.The tracks...
contains the lyric "Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it". - Rapper Ice CubeIce CubeO'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
makes reference to Patty Hearst on his song "Cave Bitch" off of his CD Lethal Injection (1993). - English band Foals states "You are the Symbionese Liberation Army, and we are Foals" at the end of "XXXXX" [live] (2007).
- American punk rock band Smoke or FireSmoke or FireSmoke or Fire is an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts.The band originally formed in 1998, when western Massachusetts native Joe McMahon got together with Chris Brand , Bill Ironfield , and Nick Maggiore , hailing from New Hampshire...
has a song named "The Patty Hearst Syndrome" about Hearst's engagement in the SLA. - The Sex VidSex VidSex Vid is an American hardcore punk band hailing from Washington state, formed around 2005 with members residing in both Seattle and Olympia, WA. They have released four 7" records and one 12" on the band's own DOM America label...
song "Tania" is about Patty Hearst's kidnapping, as well as her activities with the SLA.
Founding members
- Russell Little (SLA pseudonym Osceola or Osi), arrested for the shooting of Marcus Foster. Little was in custody during the time when Patty Hearst was with the SLA. Little was sentenced to life in prison in April 1975, but in 1981 he was retried and acquitted of the Foster murder. He now lives in Hawaii.
- Joseph Remiro (Bo), arrested with Russell Little. Little and Remiro were the prisoners whom the S.L.A. intended to swap for Hearst. Remiro was sentenced to life in prison in April 1975. He is serving this sentence at Pelican Bay Prison, Crescent City, CA.
- Donald DeFreezeDonald DeFreezeDonald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
(General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume), an escaped prisoner and the SLA's only African-American member - William (Willie) Wolfe (Cujo)
- Angela AtwoodAngela AtwoodAngela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.-Background:...
(General Gelina) - Patricia SoltysikPatricia SoltysikPatricia "Mizmoon" Monique Soltysik was one of the founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Early life:She was the daughter of a pharmacist, the third of seven children, the oldest of five girls...
, aka Mizmoon Soltysik (Zoya) - Camilla HallCamilla HallCamilla Christine Hall was an artist, college trained social worker, and an early member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Early life:...
(Gabi), Soltysik's lover - Nancy Ling PerryNancy Ling PerryNancy Ling Perry also known as Nancy Devote, Lynn Ledworth, and Fahizah was an American member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Background:...
(Fahizah) - Emily HarrisEmily Harris (SLA)Emily Harris was, along with her husband William Harris , a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a leftist United States group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst...
(Yolanda) - William Harris (General Teko), Emily Harris' husband, and eventual leader of the SLA
Later members (after the Hearst kidnapping)
- Patty HearstPatty HearstPatricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
(Tania) - Wendy YoshimuraWendy YoshimuraWendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
, former member of the Revolutionary Army, a violent activist group, with her friend Willie Brandt - Kathleen SoliahKathleen SoliahSara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
, (a.k.a Sara Jane Olson) a friend of Atwood's. Soliah became involved when approached by the SLA after the shootout - Jim Kilgore, Kathleen Soliah's boyfriend
- Steven Soliah, Kathleen Soliah's brother
- Michael Bortin
Associates and sympathisers
- Josephine Soliah, Kathleen Soliah's sister
- Bonnie Jean Wilder, Seanna, Sally (a friend of Remiro's), Bridget - all mentioned in Hearst's book Every Secret Thing as potential members
- Micki and Jack Scott, rented a farmhouse in which SLA members hid for a period to write a book
- James Michael Hamilton III (bomber), bomb maker. Died 2001.
See also
- Black Cultural AssociationBlack Cultural AssociationThe Black Cultural Association was an African American inmate group that was founded in 1968 at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, a California state prison, and formally recognized by prison officials in 1969....
- Black Panther PartyBlack Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
- Venceremos OrganizationVenceremos OrganizationVenceremos, Spanish for "We Will Overcome", or "We Will Prevail", was a radical left political group which took its name from the battle cry of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a revolutionary communist leader from Argentina and high ranking member of Fidel Castro's communist government in Cuba.Venceremos...
External links
Directed by Robert Stone, 2004- Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst official web site for the PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
movie about SLA - The Sybionese Liberation Army; House Committee on Internal Security report
- The Parts Left out of the Trial by Paul Krassner