1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gabe Lousier, and today we're looking at 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: the case of a wealthy newspaper heiress who was kidnapped 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: by a revolutionary terrorist group and seemingly converted to their cause. 7 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:38,959 Speaker 1: The day was February fourth, seventy four. A nineteen year 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: old college student named Patty Hearst was abducted at gunpoint 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: from her apartment in Berkeley, California, at about nine o'clock 10 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: that evening. Hurst responded to a knock at her door 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: and was confronted by a group of armed men and women. 12 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: It was later learned that they were a little known 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: revolutionary cell who identified them elves as the Simbionese Liberation 14 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: Army or s l A. The group forced their way 15 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: into Hurst's apartment and proceeded to beat up her fiance, 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: a twenty six year old math teacher named Stephen Weed. 17 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: He was tied up along with a neighbor who had 18 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: tried to intervene, and Patty Hurst was carried out of 19 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: the building blindfolded and terrified. Witnesses reported seeing her struggle 20 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: as she was loaded into the trunk of a car. 21 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: Neighbors who responded to the commotion were forced to take 22 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: cover as the kidnappers fired their guns wildly to mask 23 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: their escape. No one knew it at the time, but 24 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: that evening marked the start of one of the strangest 25 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: abduction cases in modern history. Patty Hurst's captors, the s 26 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: l A, were led by an infamous criminal named Donald Defrees. 27 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: In the years leading up to Hearst subduction, he and 28 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: the s l A carried out a series of violent crimes, 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: including bank robberies, attempted bombings, and the murder of both 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: police officers and civilians. According to the FBI, the ultimate 31 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: goal of the far far left wing group was to 32 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: incite guerrilla war against the U. S Government in hopes 33 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: of destroying the quote capitalist state. At this point, you 34 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: might be wondering about the meaning of the term symbionese. 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: It's not a nationality. According to Donald de Friese's manifesto, 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: it's quote taken from the word symbiosis, and we define 37 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms 38 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: living in deep and loving harmony. And partnership in the 39 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: best interest of all within the body. What he meant 40 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: by this was that the s l A was an 41 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: inclusive domestic terror group. Its ranks were open to all races, genders, 42 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: and ages. Far left anarchists and extremists of all stripes 43 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 1: were welcome. All of what leads us to the big 44 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: question why did this group kidnap Patty Hurst? The answer 45 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: is mostly for publicity. Hearst was from a wealthy, powerful 46 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: family that had instant name recognition with the public. Her 47 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: grandfather was William Randolph Hearst, the largest newspaper tycoon in 48 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: the country and the inspiration for the classic Orson Welles 49 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: film Citizen Kane. By kidnapping a member of such a famous, 50 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: well healed family, the s l A ensured they would 51 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: make front page national news, including in many of the 52 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: newspapers owned by Hearst. Following her abduction, Patty Hurst was 53 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: taken to an s l A safe house, where she 54 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: was confined in a dark closet. Three days later, the 55 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: group sent a letter to a radio station announcing that 56 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: it was holding the newspaper heiress as a quote prisoner 57 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: of war. Soon after, the s l A began releasing 58 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: audio tapes demanding that the Hearst families supply seventy million 59 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: dollars worth of food donations to feed the needy in 60 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: southern California. If they did so, Patty Hurst would be 61 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: returned unharmed. The Hearst Corporation gave away two million dollars 62 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: worth of food, but said it would only donate the 63 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: rest after Patty had been freed. S l A leader 64 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: Donald de Freeze then released the following statement to Patty's parents. 65 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: He said, quote, I wish to say to Mr Hurst 66 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: and Mrs Hurst, I am quite willing to carry out 67 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: the execution of your daughter to save the life of 68 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: starving men, women, and children of every race. Negotiations were strained, 69 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: to say the least, and wound up dragging on for 70 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: several weeks. During this time, the s l A began 71 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: abusing and torturing their captive, both physically and psychologically. Patty 72 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: Hurst later described being forced to listen to ours of 73 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: revolutionary rhetoric and tirades about the complicity of her family 74 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: in the many crimes of capitalism. She was also subjected 75 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: to sleep and food deprivation, to death threats, and to rape. 76 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: The aim of this violent indoctrination was to turn Hearst, 77 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: the poster child for wealth and privilege, into the face 78 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 1: of the s l a's coming revolution. Disturbingly, the campaign 79 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: seemed to work. On April three, the group released a 80 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: tape of Patty Hurst pledging her allegiance to the s 81 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: l A and to their fight to bring down the 82 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: quote corporate state. She marked this conversion by taking on 83 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: a new name, Tanya. Her family was stunned and insisted 84 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: she must have been brainwashed. Others interpreted the statement as 85 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: a sign of Stockholm syndrome, a desperate bid to identify 86 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: with her captors as a way to stay alive. The 87 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: tape divided the country and left everyone questioning whether Hurst's 88 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: newfound devotion was sincere or not was she really the 89 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: newest member of the s l A. The answer came 90 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: twelve days later, when Patty Hurst or Tanya, was recorded 91 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: on surveillance cameras while robbing the Hibernia Bank in San 92 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: Francisco along with members of the s l A. In 93 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 1: the footage, she was seen wielding an assault weapon, shouting 94 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: orders at bystanders, and providing cover for her fellow robbers. 95 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: In a tape recording released shortly after, Hurst declared quote, 96 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 1: I am a soldier in the People's Army. The Hibernia 97 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: bank robbery made Hurst one of the most wanted fugitives 98 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: in the country, but that didn't compel her to keep 99 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: a low profile, and the months that followed she took 100 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: part in several other crimes committed by the s l A, 101 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: including as the getaway driver for another robbery in which 102 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: a mother of four was killed. A break in the 103 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: case arrived on May seventy eight, when the FBI cornered 104 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: six members of the s l A at one of 105 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: their safe houses in Los Angeles. A shootout ensued and 106 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: the building caught fire. All six of the suspects died 107 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: in the blaze, including the s l A leader Donald 108 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: de Freeze. As for Patty Hurst, she and several others 109 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: avoided capture and spent the next year and a half 110 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,679 Speaker 1: on the run from federal agents. She was finally caught 111 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: and arrested in San Francisco in September, nineteen months after 112 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: being kidnapped. At trial, Hurst was defended by a well 113 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: known star attorney, f Lee Bailey, Jr. Who argued that 114 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: she had been coerced and brainwashed by the s l A. 115 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: There was evidence to support this, including signs of malnutrition 116 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: and a drop in her i Q score. The jury, however, 117 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: was unconvinced and ultimately found her guilty of armed bank 118 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: robbery and other crimes. She was sentenced to seven years 119 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: in prison, but only served two years before having her 120 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Then, twenty two years later, 121 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: in two thousand one, President Bill Clinton granted her a 122 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: full pardon. Along the way, she got married, though not 123 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: to her ex fiancee, Stephen wed and in nineteen eighty 124 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: two she wrote a best selling memoir titled Every Secret Thing. 125 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: She then settled in Connecticut, raised two daughters, and eventually 126 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: launched a new career as an actress, appearing in several 127 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: movies by director John Waters. As for the rest of 128 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: the Simbionese Liberation Army, several members were sentenced to eight 129 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: years in prison for their role in her subduction. The 130 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: last two known members of the group were arrested in 131 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine and two thousand two, respectively. Patty Hurst 132 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: has always maintained that she was forced to participate in 133 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: the s l a's crimes and was only her a 134 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: victim of the group. Her defense attorney f Lee Bailey, 135 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: seemed to genuinely believe her. He later said that the 136 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: first time they met, he felt like he was talking 137 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: to quote, a zombie. On the other hand, the prosecution 138 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: has never put much stock in her story. When Hurst 139 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:23,439 Speaker 1: applied for a presidential pardon in two thousand, San Francisco 140 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: U S attorney Robert Mueller yes that Robert Mueller objected 141 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: to the application. He contended that quote, the attitude of 142 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: Hearst has always been that she is a person above 143 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: the law, and that based on her wealth and social position, 144 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: she is not accountable for her conduct. Despite the jury's verdict, 145 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: the abduction of Patty Hurst captivated the public consciousness during 146 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: a precarious time for the nation. The Vietnam War was 147 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: still raging overseas as a national gas shortage, and the 148 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: Watergate political scandal increased tensions at home. The Hearst case 149 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: tapped into this growing sense of uncertainty, raising all kinds 150 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: of questions about brainwashing, free will, and culpability. For many people. 151 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: Five decades later, the mystery at the heart of the 152 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: story still remains. I'm Gabelusier and Hopefully you now know 153 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 154 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 155 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i HC Show, 156 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, you can 157 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: send them my way at this Day at i heeart 158 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 159 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 160 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For 161 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: more pocasts from i Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 162 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.