Symbionese Liberation Army

"Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people" The motto of the Symbionese Liberation Army

Activities during the period of Hearst's membership

A large amount of time in captivity was taken up with military training; physical training, weapons training, as well as group socialization. Sexual bonding within the SLA was also significant.

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Hibernia bank robbery

The next action taken by the SLA was to rob the Hibernia Bank, an incident where two civilians were shot. Cinque's communique account of this robbery is dry, and attempts to rationalise the accidental nature of the two shootings (Stone 2004).

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Hearst participated in the robbery, holding a rifle, and the security camera footage of Hearst became a news icon of the time. (Hearst was later tried and convicted for her involvement in the Hibernia robbery. Her sentence was later commuted and her crime eventually pardoned.)

Related Topics:
Commuted - Pardon

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Move to Los Angeles and police shootout

As a result of the Hibernia Bank robbery, the SLA moved operations to the Los Angeles area. This move was conducted in an extremely slipshod manner, and resulted in a catastrophe for the group. The SLA relied upon ing housing and supplies in Los Angeles, and thus isolated the people ensuring their secrecy and protection. At this stage the imprisoned SLA member, Russ Little, claimed that he believed the SLA had gone off the rails and entered into a confrontation with the police rather than a political dialogue with the public (Stone 2004).

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On 16 May 1974, William and Emily Harris entered Mel's Sporting Goods Store in Inglewood, California, to shop for supplies for their safehouse. While Yolanda made the purchases, Teko on a whim tried to shoplift socks (Stone 2004). When his attempt was foiled by a security guard, Teko brandished a revolver. The guard knocked the gun from his hand, and had succeeded in placing a handcuff on William's left wrist. At this time Tania began shooting into the store from across the street with a submachine gun from the SLA's van. Everyone in the store took cover, and the Harrises escaped with Tania.

Related Topics:
16 May - 1974 - Emily Harris - Inglewood, California

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As a direct result of this, the police found the address of the safehouse from a parking ticket in the glove box of the van that had been abandoned. The rest of the SLA fled the safehouse when they saw the events on the news. The SLA took over a house in a black neighborhood that happened to have its lights on at 4 am.

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The next day, an anonymous phone call to the LAPD stated that several people were staying at "her daughter's house" and that they had many weapons. That afternoon, more than 400 Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers, under the command of Captain Mervin King, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, California Highway Patrol, and Los Angeles Fire Department surrounded the neighborhood. The squad leader of a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team used a bullhorn to announce, "Occupants of 1466 East 54th Street, this is the Los Angeles Police Department speaking. Come out with your hands up!" A small child walked out, along with an older man. The man stated that no one else was in the house, and the child reported that several people were in the house with guns and ammo belts. After several other attempts to get anyone else to leave the house, a member of SWAT fired tear gas projectiles into the house, was answered by heavy bursts of automatic gunfire, and the battle began.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles Police Department - Captain Mervin King - Federal Bureau of Investigations - California Highway Patrol - Los Angeles Fire Department - Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)

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Two hours later, the house caught fire. The police again announced, "Come on out! The house is on fire! You will not be harmed." Two women left from the rear of the house and one came out the front (she had come in drunk the previous night, passed out, and woken up in the middle of a siege); all were taken into custody, but were found to not be SLA members. Automatic weapons fire continued from the house. Two women charged from the burning building, still firing at the police, and were shot. The rest died from the fire. After the shooting stopped and the fire was extinguished, nineteen firearms, including rifles, pistols, and shotguns were recovered.

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The bodies of Nancy Ling Perry ("Fahiza"), Angela Atwood ("General Gelina"), Willie Wolfe (who was reported to be Patricia Hearst's lover and who bore the SLA alias "Cujo"), Donald DeFreeze ("Cinque"), Patricia Soltysik ("Mizmoon", "Zoya"), and Camilla Hall ("Gabi") were found.

Related Topics:
Nancy Ling Perry - Angela Atwood - Willie Wolfe - Donald DeFreeze - Camilla Hall

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Occurring right about the time that new broadcasting technology was making coverage of live news events possible, the siege was televised live and watched by Tania, Teko, and Yolanda in their hotel room.

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Return to the Bay Area

As a result of the siege, the remaining SLA members returned to the relative safety of the Bay Area and the relative protection of student radical households. At this time a number of new members gravitated towards the SLA (Stone 2004). The active participants at this time were: Bill and Emily Harris, Patty Hearst, Wendy Yoshimura, Kathleen and Steve Soliah, James Kilgore and Michael Bortin. The SLA began a relatively minor bombing campaign in the Bay Area.

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Crocker bank robbery

On 21 April 1975, the remaining members of the SLA robbed the Crocker National Bank in Carmichael, California and killed Myrna Opsahl, a bank customer, in the process.

Related Topics:
21 April - 1975 - Crocker National Bank - Carmichael, California - Myrna Opsahl

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Much later, Patty Hearst, after being granted immunity from prosecution for this crime, claimed that Emily Harris, Kathleen Soliah, Michael Bortin, and James Kilgore actually committed the robbery, while she and Wendy Yoshimura were getaway drivers and William Harris and Steven Soliah acted as lookouts. Hearst also claimed that Opsahl was killed by Emily Harris, but that she was not a witness.

Related Topics:
Kathleen Soliah - Michael Bortin - James Kilgore - Wendy Yoshimura - Steven Soliah

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Capture and conviction

Patty Hearst, after one of the longest and most publicized manhunts ever, was captured with Wendy Yoshimura in 1975. Soon after she was captured, Hearst reidentified with the role she grew up in: wealthy heiress. In her affidavit, she claimed that SLA members had used LSD to drug her and forced her to take part in the bank raid. However, Hearst's tape recorded statements, along with the fact that she had not escaped when she had the opportunity, made many think she had thrown in her lot with the revolutionaries. Despite her claims, she was convicted of the Hibernia Bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served 21 months when her sentence was commuted by President Carter. Eventually she was exonerated by President Clinton.

Related Topics:
Wendy Yoshimura - Heiress - Affidavit - LSD - President Carter - President Clinton

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On 21 August 1975, Kathleen Soliah failed in her attempt to kill officers of the LAPD when the bombs she placed under a police car did not detonate. Soliah remained a fugitive, first in Zimbabwe, and then in Minnesota under the alias Sarah Jane Olson; she was married to a doctor and had several children.

Related Topics:
21 August - 1975

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