Kidnapping group trains billionaire niece to become a terrorist

USAWhile her parents spent $2 million to ransom her child, Patricia Hearst developed sympathy for her kidnappers and joined the gang.

At about 9 p.m. on Feb. 4, 1974, after a knock on the door, a group of people pulled guns and stormed the home of Patricia Hearst and her boyfriend, throwing her into the trunk of a car.

Police determined Patricia was kidnapped by an extremist armed group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army, or SLA. The SLA wanted to provoke a guerrilla war aimed at closing prisons, ending monogamy, and abolishing “capitalism.”

Their ranks consisted of anarchists and extremists from various walks of life. They are listed as an active domestic terrorist group, famous for shooting local officials with cyanide-laced bullets.

The family background of this 19-year-old female student is the perfect target for SLA to target. At the time, no newspaper boss was more powerful, charming or more important than William Randolph Hearst, Patricia’s grandfather. He is not only a powerful media mogul but also a great figure in American history, the real-life archetype for the classic movie Citizen Kane.

He built America’s largest mansion in San Simeon, and the name “Hearst family” in 1974 was a symbol of power and wealth, just like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos do today. The kidnapping of a Hearst lady was not accidental, but because it was a well-known American name.

The kidnapping shocked the whole country and was put on the front page by national news channels. SLA wants the incident to be more popular than that.

The SLA soon sent out a warning that any attempt to rescue the hostages could result in the girl being “executed immediately”. They wanted to rely on the power of the Hearst family to demand the release of their detained comrades but were refused by the government.

Eight days later, the SLA sent a recording to a local radio station asking the girl’s father to make a $2 million charity program that included donating clothes, food and $70 in cash to every poor household in California, “as a gesture of goodwill.”

The tape is accompanied by Patrica Hearst’s trembling voice. “Mom, Dad, I’m fine. I’m in a unit fighting automatic weapons. They weren’t just a bunch of rebels. I just hope you will do what they say, and do it quickly.”

Randolph Hearst, her father, did just that. But the food donation program is fraught with problems. At several distribution sites, riots and fraud broke out, resulting in dozens of people being injured and arrested. A few days later, SLA sent a second recording, this time with only Patricia’s voice, criticizing her parents. “My parents and my mentors are turning this charity into a real disaster.”

Relatives and the police did not understand what had happened to the girl. They didn’t have to wait long to know the truth. The most shocking recording to be shown nationally on a radio program came one morning in April 1974, 59 days after the kidnapping.

“I was given two options by the SLA, be released or join their forces and fight for freedom. I chose to stay and fight.” She further announced that she had taken her new name, Tania, after a female comrade of the hero Che Guevara. A photo was also sent with the video, in which Patricia holds a gun, wears a guerrilla hat and poses next to the flag with the SLA’s symbol, the 7-headed snake.

According to Patricia’s later testimony, when she was first kidnapped, she was detained for 7 days in a closet, blindfolded and tied her hands even while eating, and was constantly threatened with death. She then began to be involved in political discussions.

The group embarks on a brainwashing campaign to transform this prestigious lady from the highest class of society into a rebel. And it looks like they’ve succeeded. Patricia has a discord with her parents, since she was a child, she was not allowed to think and do what she wanted.

Like many young Americans in the 1970s, she also lived in a “uneven” period for the country, when the Vietnam War broke out, the Watergate scandal, riots and unrest were everywhere. SLA hit the “weak spot” of young people like her, struggling to free themselves from vague insecurities.

When she agreed to become their “comrade”, the blindfold was removed, and Patricia saw her captors for the first time. After that, she was trained in shooting, throwing grenades, and being ready to “fight”.

Her first assignment with SLA was to rob Hibernia Bank, New Orleans, on April 15, 1974. The robbery collected $10,692, two witnesses were shot, one person died. The security camera footage of the robbery was broadcast on television and was closely analyzed by the authorities.

Patrica seems to be completely voluntary and enthusiastic about the case. “I’m Tania. Everyone lies down,” the girl’s voice was clear. After the robbery, SLA sent a tape recording to local media. “Hello everyone, this is Tania. Our action on April 15 was intended to force the State to provide financial support for the revolution. As for me being brainwashed, it’s ridiculous. I am a soldier who believes in the SLA,” Patrica declared.

A month later, Patricia was at the scene of another crime, stood outside and opened fire repeatedly at Mel Sporting Goods Store in Englewood, California.

Meanwhile, the FBI opened one of the largest searches in history to find her and stop the SLA. The FBI finally caught them on September 18, 1975, when 100 Los Angeles police raided the house identified as an SLA hideout.

The event was broadcast live. Police ordered the occupants of the house to “Get out. Raise your hand.” No one answered the call, except for bullets that kept firing from the house outside, knocking out many of the officers.

But in the end, tear gas grenades set the house on fire. Six SLA members died in the attack. Patricia was lucky to survive. Her mother is confident that her daughter will not face a prison sentence. “After all, she was the victim of a kidnapping. Maybe it has to follow what the SLA dictates.” But she was wrong.

On February 4, 1976, Patricia appeared in court on charges of armed robbery. For 3 months after her arrest, the girl maintained her loyalty to the “organization” and continued to criticize the authorities. But a few months before the trial, she abruptly changed her testimony, saying she had been sexually abused, coerced and “brainwashed”.

“I love my family very much. I was forced to follow the SLA because I was afraid that if I tried to return to my parents, I would be killed,” Patricia said during the trial.

A strong team of lawyers hired by her parents tried to defend their client’s testimony, citing the “Stockholm Syndrome”. It is explained as the fact that the kidnapping victims, after a long period of torture, lose the instinct to resist and appreciate the care of the perpetrator.

But ironically, a tape recording of Patricia’s SLA period was played back in court by the prosecution, including the line “About me being brainwashed, it’s ridiculous. I am a soldier who has full confidence in the SLA.”

The verdict was handed down after 12 hours of deliberation. On March 20, 1976, Patricia was convicted of armed robbery and using a firearm to commit a felony, sentenced to 7 years in prison. “Rebellious youths who commit criminal acts for any reason shall be punished,” the verdict stated.

In 1979, she was commuted by President Jimmy Carter and released on February 1 of the same year, but was still under strict probation by the family guards. It turned out to be a good thing that happened in her life.

Two months after her release from prison, she married the captain of the bodyguard herself. The marriage was praised by the press as a “love fairy tale” between the upper class and the working class. They have 2 children, of which one daughter is a cult model and actress, Lydia Marie Hearst-Shaw.

Patrica later became famous for her active involvement in charity activities around the world. She also published a memoir, starring in several films, many of which told the story of her own bizarre kidnapping.