1974 : Patty Hearst kidnapped
On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of
newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment
in Berkeley, California, by two black men and a white woman, all three
of whom are armed. Her fiance, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up
along with a neighbor who tried to help. Witnesses reported seeing a
struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in
the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced
to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their
escape.
Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S.
leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that
it was holding Hearst as a "prisoner of war." Four days later, the SLA
demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy
person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA,
negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph
Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA
then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst
Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if the girl was
released unharmed.
In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a
surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed
robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a
robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to
the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.
On May 17, Los Angeles police raided the SLA's secret headquarters,
killing six of the group's nine known members. Among the dead was the
SLA's leader, Donald DeFreeze, an African American ex-convict who
called himself General Field Marshal Cinque. Patty Hearst and two
other SLA members wanted for the April bank robbery were not on the
premises.
Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with
her captors--or conspirators--for more than a year, Hearst, or "Tania"
as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and
arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been
brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and
sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her
sentence was commuted by President Carter. After leaving prison, she
returned to a more routine existence and later married her bodyguard.
She was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1974 : Patty Hearst kidnapped
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=4735
1789 : First U.S. president elected
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6797
1861 : States meet to form Confederacy
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4734
1969 : PLO is founded
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50488
##########################################
On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of
newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment
in Berkeley, California, by two black men and a white woman, all three
of whom are armed. Her fiance, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up
along with a neighbor who tried to help. Witnesses reported seeing a
struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in
the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced
to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their
escape.
Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S.
leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that
it was holding Hearst as a "prisoner of war." Four days later, the SLA
demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy
person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA,
negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph
Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA
then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst
Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if the girl was
released unharmed.
In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a
surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed
robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a
robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to
the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.
On May 17, Los Angeles police raided the SLA's secret headquarters,
killing six of the group's nine known members. Among the dead was the
SLA's leader, Donald DeFreeze, an African American ex-convict who
called himself General Field Marshal Cinque. Patty Hearst and two
other SLA members wanted for the April bank robbery were not on the
premises.
Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with
her captors--or conspirators--for more than a year, Hearst, or "Tania"
as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and
arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been
brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and
sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her
sentence was commuted by President Carter. After leaving prison, she
returned to a more routine existence and later married her bodyguard.
She was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1974 : Patty Hearst kidnapped
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=4735
1789 : First U.S. president elected
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6797
1861 : States meet to form Confederacy
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4734
1969 : PLO is founded
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50488
##########################################
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