Symbionese Liberation Army

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

Prisoner swap

As a result of the arrest of Remiro and Little the SLA began planning their next action: kidnapping an important figure to negotiate a prisoner swap (Stone, 2004). Documents found by the FBI at one abandoned safehouse revealed that an action was planned for the "full moon of 7 January". The FBI did not take any precautions and the SLA did not act until a month later. On 4 February, publishing heiress Patricia Hearst, then a Berkeley college student, was kidnapped from her Berkeley apartment. The SLA had chosen to kidnap Hearst to increase the news coverage of the incident.

Related Topics:
FBI - 7 January - 4 February - Patricia Hearst - Berkeley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The SLA initially demanded a prisoner swap for Remiro and Little. When this proved impracticable, a ransom, in the form of a food distribution program, was demanded for her release. The demanded value of food to be distributed fluctuated wildly: on 23 February the demand was for $4 million, but peaked at $400 million. Some free food was actually distributed. However, this was stopped when one of the four distribution points suffered a riot (Stone, 2004).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~