Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954), granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, became internationally known for events following her 1974 kidnapping and physical violation by a domestic American terrorist group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. Hearst was found nineteen months after being abducted, by which time she was a fugitive wanted for serious crimes. She was held in custody, despite speculation that her family's resources would prevent her from spending time in jail. At her trial, the prosecution suggested that she had joined the Symbionese Liberation Army of her own volition.
The SLA was formed through contacts made by a study group, coordinated by a University of California, Berkeley professor. Its purpose was the tutelage of black inmates, and over time the ethos became increasingly radicalized. Eventually, black convicts came to be viewed as heroic political prisoners, victimized by a racist American society. On March 5, 1973, Donald DeFreeze escaped from prison. Radical penal activists and future SLA members Russell Little and William Wolfe took DeFreeze to Patricia Soltysik's house. The SLA was led by DeFreeze, who, after a prison acquaintance named Wheeler left, was the only African American in the group. By the time the group became active, most of the members of the tiny group were women, some of whom have, like Soltysik and her roommate Nancy Ling Perry, been described as in lesbian relationships. The members included William and Emily Harris and Angela Atwood. DeFreeze was suspected by many of being a government provocateur, but his race and prison time gave him unquestioned authority in the SLA. He also had sexual dominion over women in the group. They acquired resources by robbing homes in the Bay Area. The first proposed operation, assassinating the head of the state penitentiaries, was cancelled because of possible repercussions for inmates; instead, Marcus Foster, a black educator regarded by the SLA as a fascist who had brought police onto school campuses, was targeted and killed. DeFreeze's estimation of the military strength of the then dozen-strong SLA group was hyperbolic, and he gave himself a concomitantly grandiose title of 'field marshal'. Soltysik is believed to have created much of the SLA ideological material, which stated the organization was opposed to "racism, sexism, agism [sic], fascism, individualism, competitiveness, possessiveness and all other institutions that have made or sustained capitalism".
what does SLA stand for
Its purpose was the tutelage of black inmates, and over time the ethos became increasingly radicalized. Its purpose was the tutelage of black inmates, and over time the ethos became increasingly radicalized. The SLA was formed through contacts made by a study group, coordinated by a University of California,
The SLA was formed through contacts made by a study group, coordinated by a University of California,