How did wealthy heiress Patty Hearst become a violent member of a left-wing guerrilla group — that kidnapped her?
In 1974 , a group of leftist radicals calling themselves the “ Symbionese Liberation Army ” stormed into the Berkeley , California flat of 19 - year - erstwhile publication inheritrix Patty Hearst . They nonplus her fiancé with a wine nursing bottle , tied up Hearst , and drag on the terrified stripling into the nighttime . What happened next has since become the stuff of American legend .
In just a couple of months , Hearst , the granddaughter of media mogul William Randolph Hearst , seemed to convert drastically in enslavement . She loose audio tape annunciate her allegiance with the Symbionese Liberation Army , helped hook a bank , and took on a new name : “ Tania . ”
San Mateo County Sheriff ’s Office / Wikimedia CommonsPatty Hearst ’s booking picture following her arrest in San Francisco . September 19 , 1975 .
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office/Wikimedia CommonsPatty Hearst’s booking photo following her arrest in San Francisco. 29 November 2024.
By the time she was arrested in September 1975 , Hearst seemed like a cleaning woman transformed . As she was booked into poky , the once - unpolitical heiress told the police that her occupation was “ urban irregular . ”
During her trial , however , Hearst ’s legal team insist that she ’d been a victim of brainwashing , intimidation , and maltreatment . And even though she was found guilty of armed bank robbery and sentence to prison , Hearst ’s term was commuted by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 . A little over two tenner subsequently , President Bill Clinton offer her a pardon .
But to this solar day , considerable mystery surrounds Patty Hearst ’s abduction — and her brief yet striking shift into a radical .
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesPatty Hearst, pictured before her kidnapping. Circa 1973.
Patty Hearst’s Privileged Upbringing
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesPatty Hearst , project before her kidnapping . Circa 1973 .
Patricia Campbell Hearst was born on February 20 , 1954 , in San Francisco , into a life of considerable wealthiness . She was the granddaughter of newspaper publishing company William Randolph Hearst , who was worth over $ 200 million when he died in 1951 ( some $ 2.2 billion in today ’s money ) .
She grew up , in her own words , in an “ loaded and sheltered surroundings ” and enjoyed a childhood that was “ pretty sodding . ”
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesPatty Hearst and Steven Weed, pictured before her kidnapping. Circa 1973.
That aver , Hearst was also make out for her ill-affected nature and for crouch the rules . accord toThe New York Times , an technical spectator for the prosecution during her tryout testified that Hearst had experimented with LSD and marijuana , had sex at an former age , and even dwell to teachers at her high school about her mother having Crab to get out of a examination .
While she was still in gamy school , 16 - year - old Patty Hearst met Steven Weed , who was then a 23 - yr - old instructor . Weed tutored Hearst in math and the two eventually began a relationship . Hearst and Weed became engaged in 1973 and moved into a Berkeley apartment together , despite the strong disapproval of Hearst ’s parents .
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesPatty Hearst and Steven Weed , figure before her kidnapping . Circa 1973 .
FBI/Wikimedia CommonsAn FBI wanted poster providing information about Symbionese Liberation Army members, including Patty Hearst.
Hearst was n’t all that happy with the relationship herself . According to Jeffrey Toobin , who wroteAmerican Heiress : The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping , Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst , Hearst had begun to sour on Weed , but she did n’t require to prove her parent the right way by breaking up with him . She sense “ gently suicidal ” as she contemplated her future .
Then , Patty Hearst ’s futurity withdraw a number that no one could have predicted .
The Kidnapping And Radical Transformation Of Patty Hearst
On February 4 , 1974 , members of the Symbionese Liberation Army ( SLA ) gathered outside of Hearst ’s Berkeley flat . The little left-wing guerrilla group , launch in 1971 , was make of chemical group who proclaimed the slogan : “ destruction to the fascist dirt ball that preys on the life of the people . ” According toSlate , the SLA wholeheartedly embrace the concept of “ urban propaganda , ” which called for violent acts that capture media care .
The SLA never included more than a dozen people . And compared to other basal organizations of the 1960s and seventies , the radical would finally have lilliputian impact . But on that February night , SLA members would execute one of the most ill-famed snatch in American account .
FBI / Wikimedia CommonsAn FBI want poster provide information about Symbionese Liberation Army members , including Patty Hearst .
Mickey Pfleger/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesThe exterior of one of the hideouts where Patty Hearst was held captive by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
According toAmerican Heiress , Patty Hearst and Steven Weed were at domicile when their bell rang at 9:17 p.m. After Weed opened the door , SLA members forced their path into the flat , savagely attack Weed , tie and gagged Hearst , and escaped into the night with their hostage .
The kidnappers drove to a hideout in Daly City , California , where Hearst was save in a closet . According toCNN , Hearst had heard of the SLA — they had infamously murdered Oakland superintendent Marcus Foster , the city ’s first mordant school superintendent , for his “ fascist ” sustenance of making schoolchildren hold ID add-in — and knew to fear her captors .
But even if she ’d never heard of the SLA , they before long gave her reason to fear them . According to Hearst , her kidnaper clapperclaw and raped her .
Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesPatty Hearst posing with a machine gun in front of a Symbionese Liberation Army flag.
“ They enfeeble you by locking you up , ” Hearst after remember in a 1988 interview . “ You ’re deprived of sight , sluttish , nap , and solid food . You depend on them for all information … And the apprehensiveness is just the terror constantly you ’ll be killed if you do n’t cooperate . ”
Mickey Pfleger / The LIFE Images Collection / Getty ImagesThe outside of one of the hideaway where Patty Hearst was held captive by the Symbionese Liberation Army .
The SLA ab initio planned to exchange Hearst for Joseph Remiro and Russell Little , who had been cop for Foster ’s murder . But they soon changed naturally and announced that they were entertain Patty Hearst surety until her family unit members used their riches to distribute food to the poor .
Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesPatty Hearst leaves San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City, bound for her appearance in federal court in San Francisco. 25 February 2025.
Surprisingly , this was easy said than done . Though Hearst ’s granddad had been significantly wealthy , he ’d funneled most of his riches into the Hearst Corporation and other faith . Because of this , Patty Hearst ’s family had to scrape up together their own money , and swear on a donation from the Hearst Foundation , to set up a food drive — which spiraled into a debauch .
Then , in April , Patty Hearst release an alarming audio tape :
“ I have been give the choice of one , being released in a safe arena , or two , link up the strength of the Symbionese Liberation Army and fighting for my exemption and the freedom of all persecute mass . I have chosen to quell and fight . ”
Among the SLA , she was no longer recognise as Patty Hearst , but as “ Tania . ”
The Rise And Fall Of “Comrade Tania”
Bettmann / Contributor / Getty ImagesPatty Hearst put with a machine gunman in front of a Symbionese Liberation Army fleur-de-lis .
On April 15 , 1974 , Patty Hearst — a.k.a . Tania — seemed to back up her quarrel . Then , Hearst and other SLA members descended on a Hibernia Bank limb in San Francisco . They robbed the bank of $ 10,000 , and Hearst was filmed at the crime scene hold a motorcar throttle .
She purportedly inaugurate herself as “ Tania ” and abuse , “ First individual invest up his head , I ’ll boast his motherf**king headland off ! ”
To some , this out - of - character conduct was grounds that Hearst had been brainwash by the SLA . To others , it offered unclouded validation that she ’d willingly conjoin the group and fully embraced its radical missionary post .
“ I said my name and — because I was supposed to say my name and make a delivery , but it ’s all pretty unclear , ” Hearst later recalled . “ And then , [ SLA fellow member ] Donald DeFreeze spud someone , and then everything went vacuous … My next remembering is sitting in the car lead [ the bank ] . ”
In her autobiography , Hearst added how she felt after the incident : “ I feel that I had , in fact , cross over some sharp line of demarcation … For me , suddenly it became plain : There was no turning back . ”
Then , in May 1974 , Hearst was waiting for two SLA members out of doors of a sporting goods store in Los Angeles when they were detained for shrinkage . To help them escape , Hearst fired multiple bullet outside . Many would later steer to this incident as further grounds that she believed in the SLA ’s cause , as this could ’ve been an opportunity for her to get out them .
However , her action did inadvertently serve the authorities , who ’d been having difficulty track the SLA . A parking ticket unintentionally left behind by Hearst and the SLA members led police to one of the SLA ’s hideouts in Los Angeles . An result shootout between the SLA and the LAPD led to the death of six SLA appendage . But Patty Hearst was n’t there .
Hearst was n’t get until September 18 , 1975 , about 19 months after her initial kidnapping . presently after that , she would be put on trial — and many would raise interrogative sentence about her blameworthiness in the SLA ’s crimes .
Innocent Victim Or Willing Participant?
Bettmann / Contributor / Getty ImagesPatty Hearst leaves San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City , tie down for her appearance in Union royal court in San Francisco . September 19 , 1975 .
In a sensational trial run , Patty Hearst ’s effectual squad claimed that she ’d been brainwashed by her captors . They also enjoin she feared that she ’d be killed if she did n’t participate in the SLA ’s law-breaking . But a jury did n’t purchase it .
The heiress was at last find oneself guilty of armed bank robbery and the manipulation of a firearm in the committee of a felony in 1976 . She was sentenced to seven years in prison for her action while in the SLA .
Her sentence , however , was exchange by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 , and Hearst was deed over a full pardon by President Bill Clinton in 2001 .
To this solar day , Patty Hearst rest a beguiling figure . Was she an innocent victim , kidnapped and forced to do the SLA ’s bid , as she and her lawyer claimed ? Or was she a willing player , infelicitous in her relationship and adrift in life , who found substance in their basal campaign ?
Only Patty Hearst — or Tania — knows the answer to that .
After this smell at the Patty Hearst kidnapping and the Symbionese Liberation Army , read up on some more of the20th century ’s most infamous female criminals and sea wolf . Then , see some ofthe seventies ’ most iconic exposure .
