Patty Hearst arrested in San Francisco

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)
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On 5 February 1974, Patricia Hearst, the daughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Thereafter, Hearst was subjected to degrading and coercive brainwashing techniques. She was held in a SLA safehouse for an undisclosed period of time. Hearst subsequently began to make public statements about the ‘crimes’ of her wealthy parents. Her father paid over $2,000,000 to have her released. This was to no avail. Patty Hearst also participated in two robberies. On 17 May 1974, the SLA leader, Donald DeFreeze was killed during a police shootout. However, Hearst and a number of other SLA members remained at large. She was captured by the FBI on 18 September 1975 and tried in a California court on charges…

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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Patty Hearst arrested in San Francisco". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5704, accessed 26 November 2024.]

5704 Patty Hearst arrested in San Francisco 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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