Patty Hearst

Patricia Campbell Hearst is an American author and actress. She became internationally known for her 1974 kidnapping by the left-wing organization Symbionese Liberation Army. In 1976, she was convicted for the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced to 7 years. Her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

About Patty Hearst in brief

Summary Patty HearstPatricia Campbell Hearst is an American author and actress. She became internationally known for her 1974 kidnapping by the left-wing organization Symbionese Liberation Army. In 1976, she was convicted for the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced to 7 years. Her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton. Hearst’s grandfather, William Randolph Hearst, created the largest newspaper, magazine, newsreel, and movie business in the world. Her great-grandmother was philanthropist Phoebe Hearst. The family was associated with immense political influence and a position of anti-Communism since before World War II. She was born on February 20, 1954 in San Francisco, California, the third of five daughters of Randolph Apperson Hearst and Catherine Wood Campbell. At the time of her abduction, Hearst was a sophomore at Berkeley, studying art history. She lived with her fiancé, Steven Weed, in an apartment in Berkeley. She attended Menlo College in Atherton, California,. before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. On April 3, 1974, two months after she was abducted, HearSt announced on an audiotape that she had taken the name ‘Tania’ Two months later, she entered the San Francisco branch of the Hibernia Bank while robbing the Sunset District branch. She entered the bank while wielding an M1 carbine carbine.

In a different account, she said she had been offered the choice of being released or joining the SLA. When asked for her decision, Hear st said she wanted to stay and fight with theSLA. She testified that she was held for a week in a closet, blindfolded and with her hands tied, during which time SLA founder and leader Cinque repeatedly threatened her with death. According to testimony at trial, the group’s main intention was to leverage the Hearst family’s political influence to free two SLA members who had been arrested for Marcus Foster’s killing. The SLA demanded that the captive’s family distribute USD 70 worth of food to every needy Californian – an operation that would cost an estimated USD 400 million. After this she was given daily lessons on her duties, especially drills on sexual freedom. At her trial, she told her lawyer, William Wolfe Wolfe, that she thought she should know sexual freedom was like in the unit; according to her lawyer,. Hearst allegedly was allegedly raped by William Wolfe and later by William DeFreeze. She said, \”DeFreeze told me that the war council had decided or was thinking about killing me or me staying with them, and that I better start thinking about that as a possibility.\” Hearst said,  “I accommodated my thoughts to coincide with theirs.” She was recorded on video saying, “Tania, I’m here to help you!”