How to Catch A Criminal: Kidnapping for Freedom

To stand up for your beliefs is the American way. This nation was founded on the idea of the people making the decisions, rejecting foreign influence and creating the society they want to live in. Occasionally, a person or group of people will come forward with their plan to better the American way of life and have their ideas rejected because they don’t appeal to a large enough portion of the population. Typically these groups will either fade away or continue to promote their beliefs despite them not catching on. On rare occasions, these people won’t take “No” for an answer and continue to force their agenda. Despite disinterest from the rest of free society, some of these groups become forceful and violent, trying to make others bow to their beliefs. We often refer to these groups as radicals or domestic terrorists. In some nations, groups like this have successfully staged coups and taken over entire nations, often times installing communism or socialism as the new form of government, to varying results. These groups will have some supporters, but will also victimize the people they claim to want to help so long as it means achieving their goals. In one bizarre circumstance, however, the victim of one of these groups became one of their biggest supporters and assets.

In 1973, Donald DeFreeze, an inmate at Soledad Prison in Soledad, California, was serving a prison sentence for his part in a bank robbery that resulted in a shootout with police. On March 5, DeFreeze managed to escape the prison and flee to Oakland where he was aided by members of Black Culture Association. The BCA was a group formed within the Vacaville Prison, where DeFreeze was housed before his transfer to Soledad. The BCA worked in tandem with volunteer students from UC Berkley to provide education to black inmates. Eventually, far left ideas permeated the BCA thanks to the presence of members of radical groups attending its meetings. This influence caused DeFreeze to create his own group focused on the study of the black family, Unisight. This group was small, but multicultural. After DeFreeze’s prison escape, he joined up with his BCA and Unisight friends and formed the Symbionese Liberation Army.

DeFreeze created a manifesto stating the Symbionese Liberation Army, or SLA, was focused on uniting all left-wing causes to create one movement working together to create change. The word Symbionese of course comes from the word symbiotic, meaning mutually beneficial. In order to ignite an uprising, the SLA decided to shut down fascism by force. To do this, they planned to murder politicians and officials who supported any cause which may oppress minorities and impoverished people. On Nov. 6, 1973, Marcus Foster, the first African-American superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District, was leaving a a school board meeting when he and another school district employee were ambushed by several members of the SLA. Foster was shot eight times with hollow-point bullets that had been packed with cyanide. His colleague was also shot but survived his injuries. Foster was targeted because of his support of a measure which would cause students to carry school ID’s on campus to prevent drug dealers and other unsavory individuals from getting into the schools. The SLA deemed this idea as oppressive and dubbed Foster a fascist who had to be dealt with. However, Foster had switched his stance on the measure and was working against these security measures when the SLA murdered him. Two members of the SLA were later tried for Foster’s murder and sentenced to life in prison, however, one was later acquitted. The convicted members have since gone on to say Foster’s actual killer was Donald DeFreeze’s girlfriend, Patricia Soltysik and DeFreeze fired a shotgun at Foster’s colleague after his killing was botched by another member. Their first major move in the fight against fascism did not go over well with the Oakland community, as Foster was well-liked and respected.

DeFreeze and his associates decided they needed to make a statement on a national scale and formulated a plan that would surely grab the headlines. On Feb. 4, 1974 19-year-old Patricia Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkley apartment after several members of the SLA barged into her apartment and beat up her fiancé. Hearst was forced into the trunk of a car and would be held by the SLA as a “prisoner of war.” Hearst was chosen as their target because her grandfather was William Randolph Hearst, a giant in the world of newspaper publishing who had passed his business on to his sons, including Patricia’s father. Kidnapping the heiress made major waves in the media and brought the SLA the attention they craved. Days later, a tape was sent to a local radio station in which Hearst read a prepared statement demanding her family distribute food to needy people in exchange for her release. This was quickly arranged by the Hearst family and $2 million of food was given out. However, the SLA was looking for donations somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 million and did not release Patricia. Instead, they began indoctrinating her, telling her they were either going to kill her or keep her as their prisoner. They made her study their political beliefs and trained her as one of their soldiers. In April of 1974, another statement was sent out by Hearst, calling her family “pigs” and announcing she was now a member of the SLA.

The SLA, anti-capitalist as they were, needed money to fund their war. On April 15, 1974 members entered the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco armed with rifles. Among their ranks was Patricia Hearst, now using the name “Tania.” She held bank customers at gunpoint while other SLA members gathered up over $10,000 before they made their escape. Two civilians were shot during the robbery.

In the hopes of gaining new members, the SLA moved its operations to Los Angeles in May. This would prove to be a fatal mistake for many of the so-called soldiers. After one of the members tried to shoplift a bandolier while one a supply run at a sporting goods store, a scuffle with a security guard ensued. Hearst, who was their lookout, opened fire on the sign above the store’s entrance, creating a distraction and allowing the members to flee. The Los Angeles Police Department was able to find the address of their safe house thanks to a parking ticket in the group’s vehicle, which was abandoned after the shooting. The SLA abandoned the safe house before police got to them, and set up shop in a home in Compton. After an anonymous tip, hundreds of LAPD officers, FBI agents, California Highway Patrol officers, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies surrounded the home and ordered the SLA members to surrender. After they refused to exit the residence, tear gas was fired inside. DeFreeze, Soltysik, and the others began firing automatic weapons towards the officers as well as throwing homemade explosives. Several hours and 9,000 rounds later, the house was fully engulfed due to a fire probably caused by the tear gas canisters. The SLA members inside were dead. Most from smoke inhalation and gunshot wounds, however DeFreeze’s cause of death was determined to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No law enforcement officers were struck by gunfire during the shootout.

Patricia Hearst and a small number of other SLA members were not at the Compton residence during the shootout and remained at large, continuing their fight against perceived fascism. Two additional bank robberies were planned to further fund their anti-capitalist war effort. During one of the robberies, in April 21, 1975, a mother of four was killed when one of the SLA members errantly fired a shotgun. This needless murder certainly didn’t build support for their cause.

Hearst and most of the remaining SLA members were eventually captured in a San Francisco apartment after being tracked by police and FBI agents. Patricia Hearst was quick to assert she had been drugged, raped and brainwashed, causing her to become and unwilling participate in the SLA’s activities. The litany of charges brought down on the would-be revolutionaries included murder, bank robbery, explosives charges and firearms charges. All members would be indicted and found guilty of their respective crimes, however two members remained on the run until capture in 1999 and 2002. Patricia Hearst was of course among the guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. In February, 1979, having served 21 months, she was released after her sentenced was commuted by President Carter. Hearst would remain on probation until January 2001 when President Clinton gave her an official pardon.

As of time of writing, most of the former SLA members have been released from prison, and Patricia Hearst published an autobiography. The days of the Symbionese Liberation Army and its attempts to incite change through violence, are long gone. In the decades since, the United Sates has seen groups of many beliefs and backgrounds attempting to get their way through the use of violence. The results have been mixed to say the least. One truth remains constant: guerilla warfare has no place in American Society.