50th Anniversary of the Abduction of Patty Hearst

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the abduction of the grand daughter of William Randolph Hearst, was a millionaire newspaper magnate whose wealth, power and appetite for luxury inspired the movie Citizen Kane.

On February 4, 1974 Hearst's grand-daughter Patty Hearst was abducted at gun point from Berkley UCLA by armed members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) who burst into Hearst's home, bashed her fiance with a wine bottle, bundled her into the boot of their car, and drove away into the night. The group abducted her in retaliation to the incarceration by the FBI of two of their members.

What followed was one of the most confounding crimes in American history, a case that would lead to a dramatic bank heist, a deadly shootout involving 9,000 bullets, and a year-long hunt for Hearst.

The transformation of Hearst from kidnapping victim to a devoted revolutionary would spark a 50-year debate about whether she was a willing accomplice in her crimes. Hearst has been described as a textbook example of a condition known as "Stockholm Syndrome".

Her story as a rich heiress turned reveloutionary is so incredible it makes modern fictional dramas look tame, The question of whether she was a victim or criminal is still being debated to this day.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-04/ ... /103307084

I remember this very clearly. I was in my mid 20's when it happened. I remember that in the aftermath, she married her jail house guard. I lost track of what happened after that. now you are sending me down some sort of internet rabbit hole, gotta go look it up! LOL

today we understand there are several responses to trauma... fight, flight, freeze and fawn... fawning is appeasement when we must survive with our tormenters (those doing the traumatizing).
Recognition of "stockholm syndrome" as a form of what was once called "brainwashing" was among the first steps that led to recognizing basic human responses to trauma.
There really should be( likely there is not) very little disagreement among those who have current understanding of trauma responses, the disagreements come as usual from those who sit in judgement from thrones of ignorance and self righteousness.

I was in junior college at the time.

A bizarre story wrapped in more bizarreness.

But hadnt thought much about it since, until now.

Dick Gregory (comedian turned poltical activist) gave a talk in person at the community college. Saw him speak in person. He had a lot of bizarre conspiracy theories about a lot of stuff..including about the Patty Hearst case.

I had vaguely heard of Patty Hearst (never googled her before) but what struck me was the US was subject to the machinations of a far left terrorist organisation (SLM) between 1973-75 made up of college students and ex-black panthers.

Weirdly the SLM emerged exactly the same (1973) as another far-left terrorist organisation called the “Revolutionäre Zellen” (Revolutionary Cells, RZ) in what was then west Germany. In 1976 a faction of this group the Baader Meinhof (Red faction gang) who famously collaborated with the PLO to hijack an Air France Flight that departed from Tel Aviv, Israel and diverted to Entebbe Israel.

I am curious whether red faction in west Germany had any ties with the SLM in the US?