The streets of San Francisco and the nation were once gripped by the wild saga of Patty Hearst, newspaper heiress, kidnapped by a radical group 50 years ago. This week marks the semi-centennial anniversary of the abduction that led the 19-year-old down an inconceivable path from captive to convicted bank robber, said SFist. Caught in the crosshairs of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), Hearst's story intertwines with a narrative that, even five decades on, captivates and confounds.
Hearst, granddaughter of the magnate William Randolph Hearst, made headlines after her abduction on February 4, 1974. Originally a victim, Hearst later shocked the public as surveillance footage captured her robbing a bank, rifle in hand, alongside her captors, reported KTVU. The SLA's demand for a $400 million ransom to feed the needy was met with a $2 million food distribution initiative by Hearst's father—a haphazard affair that fed few and secured no release for the heiress.
Yet beyond the sensationalism, Hearst was also a prisoner subjected to assault and threats, leading many to cite Stockholm syndrome to explain her seeming alliance with the SLA. This psychological coping mechanism, as it is described, suggests a bond often forms under the strains of captivity and abuse. Former Chronicle reporter Duffy Jennings recalled the chaos of the time, stating to SFist, "It was all hands on deck at the paper. On any given day you’d have on the front page stories about Patty Hearst, the Zodiac and the Zebra killings, not to mention Watergate."
Hearst's involvement with the SLA culminated in her 1975 arrest. After robbing a Hibernia Bank branch and several other crime sprees, she found herself before the justice system. Eventually serving 22 months of a seven-year sentence, Hearst saw her sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter and later received a full pardon from President Bill Clinton, according to reports by KTVU. The landmarks of San Francisco hold the echoes of a story that, to this day, carries the remnants of a young woman's lost years and the complexities of her astounding trajectory.
Today, Patricia Hearst Shaw looks back on those times from the vantage of a different life, one where dog shows and cameos in John Waters films paint a picture that stands in stark contrast to her former days as Tania of the SLA. As her 70th birthday approaches on February 20, the juxtaposition of Patty Hearst's past and present remains as startling and enigmatic as it was half a century ago.
