American History: Radical 1970s Groups-- Symbionese Liberation Army (1973-75)

Figure 1.--The Symbionese Libertion Army (SLA) was a small group of militant revolutionaries engaged in crime and vioent actions. This is a scene on May 16, 1974 from the big shootout between the police and SLA in Los Angeles. It all played out on live telvision. Here the police are rescuing the chidren. The caption read, "Police rescue children from a house near the ???? where a group identified as members of he Symbionese Liberation Army that was responsible for the kidnap[ing] of Patricia Hearst 102 days ago fought a fierce gun battle with hundreds of police before being killed in a southern area of Los Angeles."

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small group of militant revolutionaries engaged in crime and vioent actions. They were a multi-racial group operating in California during the 1970s. It was a very small group that mamaged to do very litle other than commit violent crimes, but they achieved virtully universal national recognition when they kidnppd heiress Patty Hearst and proceeded to indoctrinate her with mind control tactics. Hearst was due to inherit part of the vast Hearest newpaper fortune. At the time she was a sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley. The SLA was founded by Donald DeFreeze as a vanguard group (1973). Within the group he was called General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume. The group only functiond for a little over 2 years, but received unprecedented notariety primarily because of the Hearst kidnapping. It was, however, of no real political consequence during its short, violent life. The SLA grew out of an asociation between prison convicts and activists. Within these groups while claiming to be fightig for the down trodden and a peaceful world, there was a commitment to violencce. The black prostiture he murdered can hardly be classfied as pat of the 'establishment. DeFreeze explained the name of the group, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body."

Notorious Group

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small group of militant revolutionaries engaged in crime and vioent actions. They were a multi-racial group operating in California during the 1970s. It was a very small group that mamaged to do very litle other than commit violent crimes, but they achieved virtully universal national recognition when they kidnppd heiress Patty Hearst and proceeded to indoctrinate her with mind control tactics. Hearst was due to inherit part of the vast Hearest newpaper fortune. At the time she was a sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley.

Foundation

The SLA was founded by Donald DeFreeze as a vanguard group (1973). Within the group he was called General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume. The SLA grew out of an asociation between prison convicts and activists.

Notoriety

The group only functiond for a little over 2 years, but received unprecedented notariety primarily because of the Hearst kidnapping.

Ideology

It was, however, of no real political consequence during its short, violent life. Within these groups while claiming to be fighting for the down trodden and a peaceful world, there was a commitment to violencce. The black prostiture he murdered can hardly be classfied as pat of the 'establishment. DeFreeze explained the name of the group, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body." DeFreeze advocated the unity of all left-wing struggles (feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and others). DeFreeze claimed to want all races, genders, and ages to fight together in a left-wing united front, and to live together peacefully. His behavior questions his sincerity. DeFreeze was an escaped convict convicted for murdering a prostitute. The group’s motto was, “Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people.” This was added to all of their communiqués.

Membership

At the beginning he was the only African American member. The other seven members were white middle-class young adults. They adopted Swahili names and began what they saw as an armed insurgency for the self-styled Symbionese Federation.

Capitalism

At the time, large numbers of people still believed in socialism, thinking it could deliver utopia. One of the SLA's major targets was capitalism and capitalists, one of the reasons that Hearst was targeted. Ironically, the SLA rampage aginst capitalism occurred just before Communist China went capitalist and proceeded to generate the most explosive creation of ealth and well-being in all of history. Totalitarian Communism and socialist economics made no progress in improving Chinese living standards. In only a few years, capitalism did just that.

Violent Rampage

Soon after organizing the SLA assassinated Marcus Foster, the first black superintendent of the Oakland schoolsystem (November 6, 1973). Foster was attemping to improve education in Oakland's heavily minority schools. DeFreeze was upset because he believed Foster's plan included mandatory ID cards. The SLA thus labeled him a 'fascist'. (Actualy Foster had toyed with the idea and dismissed it.) Murdering such a respected black leader, the SLA alienated the Black Panther Party and other revolutionary leftist groups. Only the declining Weather Underground aplauded SLA axtions. Here there was degree of jealousy over the attention the media gave to the SLA. After the police tracked down and arrested Russell Little and Joseph Remiro (January 1974), the SLA began planning their next violent action. Three SLA members kidnapped Hearst from her apartment (February 4, 1974). Three days later, the SLA issued a communiqué denouncing the 'establishment' and announced that they were holding Hearst as a 'prisoner of war' and beginning one of the most bizarre episodes of radical 1970s revolutionary politics. Next they sent an audio tape to KPFA Radio in which Hearst, undobtdly under duress, demanded that her family distribute food to the poor in exchange for her release. The Hearsts proceeded to funded a program, People In Need, which would supply food to thousands of needy people, funding it with $2 million. Rather thn release her, the SLA forced Hearst to denounced her parents as 'pigs' and to join the SLA (February 12). She was given the revolutionary name 'Tania' which was the name of Che Guevara’s companion. Many of these radical groups were enamored with Castro and Cuba, but the individuals like Black Pnther Huey Newton who fled to Cuba found racial policies there were not what they had expected. In particular no expression of black nationalism was permitted. The SLA's next action was robbing a branch of the Hibernia Bank (April 15, 1974). The surveillance camera captured images of Tania (Hearst) participating. The SLA group then fled to southern California to esca;pe the man hunt in the Bay area. There Tania along with Bill and Emily Harris (Teko and Yolanda) attempted to rob a sporting goods store in Inglewood, California (May 16). he police found their attempted to rob a sporting goods store in Inglewood, California. A terrefic gun battle ensued. The police fired some 5,000 rounds into the residence. The building went up in flames. Six SLA members (DeFreeze, Angela Atwood, Nancy Ling Perry, Willie Wolfe, Patricia Soltysik, and Camilla Hall) were killed. Hearst and the Harrises in hiding watched the shoot out on television from an Anaheim motel room. The reduced SLA members staged two more banks roberies, one in Sacramento (February 25, 1975) and the other in Carmichael (April 21). Myrna Lee Opsahl, a bank customer, for no apparent reason was shot and killed in the Carmichel robbery. Emily Harris lter admitted to having fired the fatal shot. The FBI in San Francisco found and arested Tamia, the Harrises, and two minor members (September 18). They were tried, convicted, and served prison sentences for their SLA rampage. After release, they all led relatively mainstream lives.

Hearst Trial

The Hearst trial was controversial in that she clamed to have been forced to participate in the SLA actions. Her lawyers insisted that she was subjected to mind control. To this day she is often sigted as an instance of Stockholm Syndrome. L

Created: 5:25 AM 3/15/2018
Last updated: 5:25 AM 3/15/2018