1 00:00:04,605 --> 00:00:07,605 - A surveillance camera recorded the shocking image 2 00:00:07,665 --> 00:00:11,925 of Patty Hurst wielding an M1 military Carine 3 00:00:12,185 --> 00:00:14,165 during a San Francisco bank robbery. 4 00:00:14,265 --> 00:00:18,765 In 19 74, 2 months earlier, members 5 00:00:18,865 --> 00:00:20,405 of the Violent Radical Group, 6 00:00:20,745 --> 00:00:24,285 the Symbionese Liberation Army, the SLA, 7 00:00:24,945 --> 00:00:27,165 had kidnapped the 19-year-old granddaughter 8 00:00:27,165 --> 00:00:30,525 of the late media baron, William Randolph Hearst. 9 00:00:35,635 --> 00:00:40,455 Hearst was the inspiration for the 1941 film, citizen Kane. 10 00:00:41,335 --> 00:00:42,555 During the late 19th 11 00:00:42,695 --> 00:00:43,995 and 20th centuries, 12 00:00:43,995 --> 00:00:47,995 William Randolph Hurst media empire practiced sensational 13 00:00:48,095 --> 00:00:50,875 yellow journalism and swayed public opinion. 14 00:00:51,655 --> 00:00:54,955 It was said that his newspaper empire could start wars. 15 00:00:56,185 --> 00:00:58,045 His granddaughter, Patty Hurst, 16 00:00:58,565 --> 00:01:00,285 a college student born into wealth 17 00:01:00,425 --> 00:01:02,605 and opulence, appeared 18 00:01:02,605 --> 00:01:05,325 to have been transformed into a gorilla warrior. 19 00:01:05,935 --> 00:01:10,065 After two months of captivity, she called herself Tanya 20 00:01:10,565 --> 00:01:13,625 as she barked orders to customers during the bank robbery. 21 00:01:15,735 --> 00:01:19,755 Now, in 2024, on the 50th anniversary 22 00:01:19,755 --> 00:01:21,035 of the Hearst Kidnapping, 23 00:01:21,535 --> 00:01:24,595 the debate continues about whether she became a willing 24 00:01:24,595 --> 00:01:27,875 member of the SLA or was brainwashed. 25 00:01:28,835 --> 00:01:31,315 A primary reporter covering the story was journalist 26 00:01:31,315 --> 00:01:32,475 Roger Rappaport. 27 00:01:33,565 --> 00:01:36,775 He's here with insights into one of the most bizarre 28 00:01:36,915 --> 00:01:39,295 and polarizing crimes in US history. 29 00:01:40,165 --> 00:01:43,255 Rappaport has written a book, simply titled, searching 30 00:01:43,315 --> 00:01:44,335 for Patty Hurst. 31 00:01:45,295 --> 00:01:46,335 I began our interview 32 00:01:46,355 --> 00:01:51,055 by asking why the SLA targeted 19-year-old Patty Hurst. 33 00:01:52,025 --> 00:01:55,075 - Well, uh, the, the kidnappers, uh, were looking 34 00:01:55,075 --> 00:01:58,355 for someone that could get them money and media coverage, 35 00:01:58,775 --> 00:02:00,795 and they hit on this idea, uh, 36 00:02:00,805 --> 00:02:02,795 which they got from the Remos, uh, 37 00:02:02,795 --> 00:02:05,595 another revolutionary group that if they, uh, 38 00:02:06,175 --> 00:02:08,275 kidnap the daughter of a media celebrity, that 39 00:02:08,275 --> 00:02:11,315 that would be, um, a huge boost for them. 40 00:02:11,315 --> 00:02:12,995 Obviously, they would get a big ransom, 41 00:02:13,215 --> 00:02:14,635 and they'd also get a lot of publicity, 42 00:02:14,635 --> 00:02:17,395 and that would inspire other, uh, revolutionary groups 43 00:02:17,395 --> 00:02:20,195 around the country who wanted to get a jumpstart, uh, 44 00:02:20,225 --> 00:02:23,555 without having to do a lot of, a lot of the, you know, 45 00:02:23,815 --> 00:02:27,315 the legwork that's required, uh, to sell a point of view. 46 00:02:27,415 --> 00:02:29,075 And that was their idea. So when they learned 47 00:02:29,075 --> 00:02:32,875 that she was engaged to marry a philosophy student at 48 00:02:32,875 --> 00:02:36,475 University of California named Steven Weed, they decided 49 00:02:36,475 --> 00:02:37,755 that she would be an easy hit. 50 00:02:37,755 --> 00:02:39,955 There wouldn't be much security around her, which was true. 51 00:02:40,535 --> 00:02:43,875 And, uh, she was a 19-year-old that had met Steve Weed, 52 00:02:43,875 --> 00:02:47,235 her fiance, and he was her math teacher at a private school 53 00:02:47,505 --> 00:02:48,515 near San Francisco. 54 00:02:49,335 --> 00:02:51,275 Uh, at the time, the kidnapping, she was 19, 55 00:02:51,465 --> 00:02:52,995 basically. Nobody knew who she was 56 00:02:53,575 --> 00:02:54,755 - And had Steve Weed 57 00:02:54,755 --> 00:02:56,195 and her started their relationship 58 00:02:56,225 --> 00:02:57,315 when she was much younger. 59 00:02:58,035 --> 00:03:01,225 - Yeah, she was 16. She was a junior at Crystal Springs 60 00:03:01,225 --> 00:03:03,705 School for girls in Hillsborough, where she lived. 61 00:03:04,175 --> 00:03:08,065 They fell in love, uh, had this secret affair. 62 00:03:08,325 --> 00:03:11,905 Um, then, uh, she finished high school a year early, went 63 00:03:11,905 --> 00:03:14,145 to junior college, and then together they moved to Berkeley. 64 00:03:14,645 --> 00:03:16,105 Her mother really wanted to go to Stanford, 65 00:03:16,325 --> 00:03:17,825 and if she listened to her mother, 66 00:03:17,845 --> 00:03:19,105 we wouldn't be talking right now. 67 00:03:20,205 --> 00:03:23,695 - Rappaport says Patty Hurst's mother Catherine was a 68 00:03:23,695 --> 00:03:26,415 socialite who met Randolph when he was the publisher 69 00:03:26,415 --> 00:03:28,095 of the Atlanta Constitution. 70 00:03:28,755 --> 00:03:31,255 She was a wealthy Georgia debutante. 71 00:03:31,275 --> 00:03:35,515 In 1938, Patricia Campbell Hurst was one 72 00:03:35,515 --> 00:03:39,555 of five daughters, a plain Jane, little makeup. 73 00:03:39,935 --> 00:03:41,155 She preferred T-shirts 74 00:03:41,155 --> 00:03:44,815 and cutoff jean shorts, five foot three inches tall, 75 00:03:45,115 --> 00:03:48,655 110 pounds long, straight light brown hair, 76 00:03:48,755 --> 00:03:51,255 parted down the middle, three inches below her shoulders, 77 00:03:52,205 --> 00:03:54,935 fair complexion, brown eyes, a wide grin. 78 00:03:55,675 --> 00:03:58,095 Uh, she looked like the average college girl 79 00:03:58,095 --> 00:04:00,455 of the seventies indistinguishable 80 00:04:00,715 --> 00:04:02,215 for most girls of her age. 81 00:04:02,925 --> 00:04:04,455 - They lived in a 19 room house. 82 00:04:04,805 --> 00:04:06,535 They vacationed everywhere, 83 00:04:06,595 --> 00:04:09,615 but the, the family was gone a lot, uh, both her business 84 00:04:09,615 --> 00:04:11,415 and, and, uh, you know, obviously, 85 00:04:11,915 --> 00:04:13,175 uh, pleasure trips as well. 86 00:04:13,915 --> 00:04:15,735 So she had a lot of independence very early. 87 00:04:15,735 --> 00:04:17,255 She also went to a Catholic boarding school, 88 00:04:17,255 --> 00:04:18,615 and that was kind of a rough ride. 89 00:04:19,155 --> 00:04:20,695 She had some struggles there 90 00:04:20,695 --> 00:04:22,535 and eventually decided to come home and, 91 00:04:22,555 --> 00:04:24,535 and go to this private school in Hillsborough. 92 00:04:24,955 --> 00:04:26,535 But at the time she was kidnapped. 93 00:04:26,555 --> 00:04:29,015 Um, she was definitely apolitical. 94 00:04:29,175 --> 00:04:33,415 I know this is true because I wrote a book in 1974 95 00:04:33,415 --> 00:04:35,335 with her fiance after she was kidnapped, 96 00:04:35,715 --> 00:04:36,815 and he lived in my house 97 00:04:37,115 --> 00:04:39,095 for many months while we wrote this book. 98 00:04:39,195 --> 00:04:41,095 And of course, he had access to the family 99 00:04:41,275 --> 00:04:43,335 and, uh, was involved, um, a 100 00:04:43,335 --> 00:04:45,375 after the kidnapping in, in her ransom effort. 101 00:04:45,635 --> 00:04:48,175 And one of the things we know for sure about Patty was that 102 00:04:48,875 --> 00:04:51,095 she crossed United Farm Worker picket lines. 103 00:04:51,355 --> 00:04:53,095 Um, she thought her father's attempt 104 00:04:53,475 --> 00:04:56,495 to help the Latino community in the San Francisco area 105 00:04:57,035 --> 00:05:00,815 was kind of a joke, and she definitely, uh, had, had gone 106 00:05:00,815 --> 00:05:04,095 to school at Menlo College, uh, in the middle 107 00:05:04,095 --> 00:05:05,415 of the student strike, she just went to class. 108 00:05:05,955 --> 00:05:08,215 So her politics really weren't, weren't present 109 00:05:08,835 --> 00:05:10,365 - According to Rappaport, 110 00:05:10,695 --> 00:05:13,285 Patty Hirsch was not a spoiled rich girl. 111 00:05:13,665 --> 00:05:15,925 She paid her own rent while attending Berkeley, 112 00:05:15,925 --> 00:05:17,925 bought her own groceries, did her own cooking, 113 00:05:18,315 --> 00:05:19,885 took a semester off to work, 114 00:05:20,465 --> 00:05:23,045 and her father, Randolph had taught her to shoot 115 00:05:24,345 --> 00:05:25,345 - The California world. 116 00:05:25,345 --> 00:05:29,285 The San Francisco world was far to the left of where her, 117 00:05:29,295 --> 00:05:30,485 where her parents were. 118 00:05:30,945 --> 00:05:32,165 And this was a tricky thing 119 00:05:32,165 --> 00:05:34,925 because obviously as a newspaper publisher, 120 00:05:34,925 --> 00:05:36,485 you wanna be in touch with your community. 121 00:05:36,505 --> 00:05:39,165 And, and at one point she said to her dad, you know, dad, 122 00:05:39,345 --> 00:05:42,485 nobody reads the San Francisco examiner who's under 80. 123 00:05:42,985 --> 00:05:46,885 So she definitely understood that this privileged world 124 00:05:47,005 --> 00:05:48,765 that she'd grown up in was something 125 00:05:48,765 --> 00:05:52,765 that she didn't wanna just remain in that situation. 126 00:05:54,005 --> 00:05:57,565 - Berkeley was the hotbed of America's leftist radicalism. 127 00:05:58,455 --> 00:06:01,115 By the early seventies, after years of protest 128 00:06:01,455 --> 00:06:03,835 and resistance, some fringes 129 00:06:03,835 --> 00:06:06,475 of the left were developing a sense of urgency 130 00:06:07,435 --> 00:06:10,495 in the ever present debate between non-violent 131 00:06:10,515 --> 00:06:11,615 and violent actions. 132 00:06:12,315 --> 00:06:16,895 The idea of terrorism was gaining ground enter Donald Def 133 00:06:16,895 --> 00:06:20,775 Freeze, the founder of the Symbo Liberation Army, known 134 00:06:20,775 --> 00:06:23,495 as the SLA who had escaped from prison. 135 00:06:24,745 --> 00:06:29,325 The SLAs, Marxist mission included ending racism, monogamy, 136 00:06:29,825 --> 00:06:30,925 and the prison system. 137 00:06:32,295 --> 00:06:33,545 - They were in Berkeley. I mean, 138 00:06:33,545 --> 00:06:34,785 everything was going on there. 139 00:06:34,855 --> 00:06:37,265 This was the final years of the Vietnam War. 140 00:06:37,415 --> 00:06:39,785 Watergate was happening. That was a big story. 141 00:06:40,075 --> 00:06:41,345 There was an energy crisis. 142 00:06:41,395 --> 00:06:42,825 There was a war in the Middle East, 143 00:06:43,445 --> 00:06:45,705 and you know, the sixties had been, you know, 144 00:06:45,745 --> 00:06:47,545 a transitional time for San Francisco. 145 00:06:47,965 --> 00:06:50,825 So she was, you know, certainly part of that culture. Yeah, 146 00:06:50,825 --> 00:06:53,705 - I had a friend that was there, uh, at that time period, 147 00:06:53,765 --> 00:06:56,425 and he called it bizarrely, not Berkeley. Uhhuh. 148 00:06:56,465 --> 00:06:58,965 - . Right. And exactly. 149 00:06:59,795 --> 00:07:04,355 - Were there a number of radical, you know, 150 00:07:04,355 --> 00:07:05,955 overthrow of the government type groups 151 00:07:06,505 --> 00:07:07,635 popping up at that time? 152 00:07:08,535 --> 00:07:10,755 - Yes. And the SLA, which was founded by 153 00:07:11,585 --> 00:07:13,115 Escapee from Soledad Prison, 154 00:07:13,695 --> 00:07:15,475 had in fact been working with one of those groups. 155 00:07:15,635 --> 00:07:18,075 A number of radicals from the Berkeley area had been 156 00:07:18,355 --> 00:07:19,635 involved in a prison reform group 157 00:07:20,145 --> 00:07:22,155 that was protesting the conditions in the prison. 158 00:07:22,175 --> 00:07:25,755 And so they had met a number of convicts during their, uh, 159 00:07:25,755 --> 00:07:27,555 trips to the prison in Vacaville, 160 00:07:27,615 --> 00:07:30,115 and also Soledad were to freeze escaped. 161 00:07:30,455 --> 00:07:32,475 So when he got out of prison, you know, when he, 162 00:07:32,735 --> 00:07:36,835 he literally just disappeared one night, he went back 163 00:07:36,835 --> 00:07:37,875 to Berkeley and hooked up 164 00:07:37,875 --> 00:07:40,715 with mostly these middle class white kids 165 00:07:41,135 --> 00:07:42,235 and formed the SLA. 166 00:07:42,235 --> 00:07:45,995 Their first attempt to strike was, uh, the assassination 167 00:07:46,375 --> 00:07:49,355 of the Oakland School superintendent, who they felt was, uh, 168 00:07:50,235 --> 00:07:54,955 engaging in, um, profiling of students, um, with UCLA, 169 00:07:55,175 --> 00:07:57,555 uh, psychiatrists who were doing a study trying 170 00:07:57,555 --> 00:07:59,395 to figure out who was the most likely, 171 00:07:59,535 --> 00:08:00,675 uh, to become a criminal. 172 00:08:00,675 --> 00:08:02,795 That kind of profiling really got them upset. 173 00:08:03,135 --> 00:08:04,435 And that move was a disaster. 174 00:08:04,665 --> 00:08:05,995 Basically, they were denounced 175 00:08:05,995 --> 00:08:07,355 by everybody including the left. 176 00:08:08,415 --> 00:08:12,435 - The SLA slogan was death to the fascist insect 177 00:08:12,435 --> 00:08:14,555 that pres upon the life of the people. 178 00:08:15,935 --> 00:08:18,635 It was a small band of violent misfits. 179 00:08:19,335 --> 00:08:22,555 Before kidnapping Hurst, they murdered Marcus Foster, 180 00:08:23,135 --> 00:08:25,475 the first African American superintendent 181 00:08:25,495 --> 00:08:30,155 of schools in Oakland, California with cyan tip bullets, 182 00:08:30,655 --> 00:08:34,315 and wounded another school official, armed 183 00:08:34,345 --> 00:08:37,035 with stolen weapons and funded by robberies. 184 00:08:37,535 --> 00:08:40,435 The group trained in military maneuvers in the Berkeley 185 00:08:40,435 --> 00:08:44,635 Hills, the SLA saw in Patty Hearst, the means 186 00:08:44,695 --> 00:08:48,195 to catapult their cause into the national consciousness. 187 00:08:49,735 --> 00:08:53,315 She was a 19-year-old sophomore art history major at the 188 00:08:53,315 --> 00:08:55,075 University of California Berkeley. 189 00:08:56,145 --> 00:09:00,365 On the evening of February 4th, 1974, around 9:00 PM 190 00:09:01,145 --> 00:09:03,605 Hearst and her fiance were watching TV 191 00:09:04,435 --> 00:09:07,165 when there was a knock at the door of apartment number four 192 00:09:07,705 --> 00:09:11,125 at 26 0 3 Ben Venue Street in Berkeley. 193 00:09:12,405 --> 00:09:16,085 A trio of SLA members described as commandos 194 00:09:16,085 --> 00:09:18,965 and newspaper coverage burst into her apartment 195 00:09:19,035 --> 00:09:22,565 with guns drawn and beat her fiance Steve Weed. 196 00:09:22,945 --> 00:09:25,725 To a pulp. Three months earlier, 197 00:09:26,185 --> 00:09:29,205 the San Francisco Chronicle published a story her parents 198 00:09:29,205 --> 00:09:32,645 commissioned, announcing the Hearst Hess engagement 199 00:09:32,705 --> 00:09:37,165 to Steven Weed in the newspaper Photo, Hearst sits 200 00:09:37,165 --> 00:09:38,885 with weed standing behind her 201 00:09:39,235 --> 00:09:40,885 with his left hand on her shoulder. 202 00:09:41,505 --> 00:09:44,085 He looks like a professor wearing a sports jacket, 203 00:09:44,305 --> 00:09:46,245 an abstract pattern, neck tie, 204 00:09:47,115 --> 00:09:49,085 wire rim glasses, frame his eyes. 205 00:09:49,225 --> 00:09:51,725 He has a manicured light brown mustache. 206 00:09:52,505 --> 00:09:54,285 He is a slim and slight figure. 207 00:09:55,225 --> 00:09:57,005 The age difference between the teacher 208 00:09:57,505 --> 00:09:59,885 and his former high school student was a parent. 209 00:10:00,305 --> 00:10:03,885 The newspaper article also disclosed Hearst address 210 00:10:04,835 --> 00:10:06,765 that caught the attention of the leader 211 00:10:06,765 --> 00:10:10,125 of the SLA Donald Def Freeze, who was looking 212 00:10:10,265 --> 00:10:11,405 for his next target. 213 00:10:12,875 --> 00:10:15,245 - Well, believe it or not, despite who she was, 214 00:10:15,245 --> 00:10:17,205 there was basically no security at this house. 215 00:10:17,205 --> 00:10:20,525 Almost none. And what happened was, one of the members who, 216 00:10:20,525 --> 00:10:22,245 Angela Atwood, who happened to be an actress, 217 00:10:22,595 --> 00:10:24,605 knocked on the door and claimed that her, uh, 218 00:10:25,465 --> 00:10:26,565 Herric card broken down. 219 00:10:26,825 --> 00:10:28,925 And, uh, right behind her was Donald d Fries 220 00:10:29,185 --> 00:10:30,205 and, uh, bill Harris. 221 00:10:30,785 --> 00:10:33,725 And they, they beat, uh, we who started screaming. 222 00:10:34,225 --> 00:10:36,485 And then Bill Harris carried Patty out into a car. 223 00:10:36,485 --> 00:10:37,765 And, and then that was the beginning 224 00:10:37,765 --> 00:10:38,885 of her captivity, period. 225 00:10:39,145 --> 00:10:40,445 She was bound and gagged, 226 00:10:40,465 --> 00:10:42,725 but she was much more under control. 227 00:10:42,835 --> 00:10:44,045 They were worried about Steve 228 00:10:44,045 --> 00:10:45,645 because his screaming, they felt was 229 00:10:45,645 --> 00:10:46,845 gonna alert the neighbors. 230 00:10:47,145 --> 00:10:48,485 And some of them actually did come out, 231 00:10:48,485 --> 00:10:49,565 but they fired some rounds 232 00:10:49,565 --> 00:10:50,885 to get them back into their apartment. 233 00:10:51,545 --> 00:10:55,165 But the crime scene was, they, they, they tore the house up, 234 00:10:55,165 --> 00:10:57,205 basically, which is interesting. 235 00:10:57,685 --> 00:11:01,365 I mean, they, they severely damaged the house in the process 236 00:11:01,465 --> 00:11:02,485 of kidnapping Patty. 237 00:11:03,265 --> 00:11:07,245 - And how long is it until they issue their ransom demand, 238 00:11:07,265 --> 00:11:09,335 and what do they want, how much money, 239 00:11:09,395 --> 00:11:10,855 and what do they wanna do with it? Well, 240 00:11:10,855 --> 00:11:13,455 - They, the, the initial demand was $4 million. 241 00:11:13,715 --> 00:11:15,775 Now, at that point, I suppose 242 00:11:16,395 --> 00:11:18,575 the family was in a position to just write the checks. 243 00:11:18,645 --> 00:11:19,775 It's a, it's a billion dollar 244 00:11:19,775 --> 00:11:21,255 multi-billion dollar corporation. 245 00:11:21,625 --> 00:11:23,735 - 48 hours after the abduction, 246 00:11:24,315 --> 00:11:28,175 the SLA sent a hand scrawled ransom note to Randolph Hurst 247 00:11:28,805 --> 00:11:30,775 directing to kill little Patricia, 248 00:11:31,235 --> 00:11:35,215 unless you pigs let the pair of SLA members arrested 249 00:11:35,215 --> 00:11:36,775 for the murder of the Oakland School 250 00:11:36,775 --> 00:11:38,615 superintendent out of prison. 251 00:11:39,785 --> 00:11:43,285 The Ransom Note insisted that quote, I want you 252 00:11:43,285 --> 00:11:46,045 to put this in the news and in your newspaper, 253 00:11:46,665 --> 00:11:50,045 and if you don't, you might just be our next victim. 254 00:11:52,685 --> 00:11:56,735 - So the, the, the kidnapping was very easily done, 255 00:11:57,035 --> 00:11:59,215 but I think they guessed wrong on the hearse. 256 00:11:59,215 --> 00:12:01,375 And what happened was the Governor, the Attorney General, 257 00:12:01,475 --> 00:12:04,655 the hostage consultants, all said to Patty's father, 258 00:12:04,725 --> 00:12:06,135 look, you ransom her. 259 00:12:06,135 --> 00:12:08,895 And, you know, they'll be after other people's daughters 260 00:12:08,895 --> 00:12:10,935 and they'll be bombing the hearse headquarters. 261 00:12:10,965 --> 00:12:13,775 They might even go after Sam Simeon, which is the castle 262 00:12:13,885 --> 00:12:15,575 that, uh, her grandfather built. 263 00:12:15,675 --> 00:12:18,255 That's a, you know, a major tourist attraction. 264 00:12:18,835 --> 00:12:22,775 And so this fear persuaded Randy Hurst not to answer her. 265 00:12:23,035 --> 00:12:25,655 And that was the breakdown that basically contributed 266 00:12:25,675 --> 00:12:28,095 to Patty's decision to join the SLA. 267 00:12:28,475 --> 00:12:31,335 - The SLA issued a new demand for Hearst 268 00:12:31,335 --> 00:12:34,375 to give away $70 worth of free food 269 00:12:35,035 --> 00:12:38,055 to everybody in need in the state of California. 270 00:12:39,135 --> 00:12:40,515 - But that turned out to be a disaster. 271 00:12:40,585 --> 00:12:43,555 Some of the food was spoiled, people got attacked, uh, 272 00:12:43,655 --> 00:12:46,035 TV reporters got attacked and so on. 273 00:12:46,335 --> 00:12:47,515 So it was kind of a riot, 274 00:12:48,095 --> 00:12:52,195 and that that went very badly, even though the Hearst, 275 00:12:52,255 --> 00:12:55,595 you know, tried to, to comply with that part of the ransom. 276 00:12:55,595 --> 00:12:57,075 So that's when things began to break down. 277 00:12:57,375 --> 00:12:59,995 One of the things that I've learned since I started doing my 278 00:12:59,995 --> 00:13:03,155 author tour is that Randy actually was trying 279 00:13:03,155 --> 00:13:06,075 to do a back channel negotiation with some of the prisoners 280 00:13:06,075 --> 00:13:09,275 that knew the SL eight leadership, with the goal being 281 00:13:09,275 --> 00:13:11,915 that they would somehow put pressure on the 282 00:13:12,035 --> 00:13:13,115 SLA to let Patty out. 283 00:13:13,895 --> 00:13:17,115 And, um, so he was working quite hard in that regard. 284 00:13:17,115 --> 00:13:18,275 It didn't, it didn't work. 285 00:13:18,815 --> 00:13:20,955 Uh, the dream was that Russell Little 286 00:13:20,955 --> 00:13:24,435 and Joseph Romero, who were the two, uh, SLA members 287 00:13:24,455 --> 00:13:27,075 who were arrested, and in San Quentin for the murder 288 00:13:27,075 --> 00:13:29,675 of the Oakland School superintendent, the deal was 289 00:13:29,675 --> 00:13:31,395 that they went to the judge in that case, 290 00:13:31,985 --> 00:13:33,075 that is Randy himself 291 00:13:33,075 --> 00:13:35,475 and the head of the Department of Prisons to try 292 00:13:35,475 --> 00:13:36,555 to get little 293 00:13:36,555 --> 00:13:39,435 and Romero on a national television broadcast 294 00:13:39,765 --> 00:13:42,715 where they would actually appeal for Patty's release 295 00:13:42,775 --> 00:13:44,115 and then talk about their own case. 296 00:13:44,615 --> 00:13:45,915 But the judge said no. 297 00:13:46,295 --> 00:13:48,635 So Randy was trying to do it quietly, 298 00:13:48,735 --> 00:13:49,795 you know, through the back door. 299 00:13:50,375 --> 00:13:51,515 Uh, but that didn't work. 300 00:13:51,815 --> 00:13:54,435 So as time went on, Patty began to realize 301 00:13:54,625 --> 00:13:56,555 that the money wasn't forthcoming, 302 00:13:56,775 --> 00:13:58,835 so she just couldn't understand it, you know, 303 00:13:58,835 --> 00:14:01,915 and she saw it in the various communications that she wrote 304 00:14:02,835 --> 00:14:03,985 under her own name. 305 00:14:05,005 --> 00:14:07,905 So both the SLA members and Patty issued Communiques, 306 00:14:08,205 --> 00:14:10,425 and she very articulately kind of took down 307 00:14:11,045 --> 00:14:12,825 not just her family and the Hearst Corporation, 308 00:14:12,825 --> 00:14:14,185 but the entire power structure. 309 00:14:15,595 --> 00:14:17,865 - 59 days after the kidnapping, 310 00:14:18,075 --> 00:14:21,705 Patty Hearst denounced her family in an audio recording 311 00:14:21,705 --> 00:14:23,745 called a communique, sent to communicate, sent 312 00:14:23,745 --> 00:14:27,825 to a radio station, and she claimed allegiance to the SLA. 313 00:14:28,245 --> 00:14:31,665 And she took the name Tanya. Tanya or Tanya. 314 00:14:31,845 --> 00:14:34,785 The gorilla was a communist revolutionary 315 00:14:34,845 --> 00:14:38,265 and spy who played a prominent role in the Cuban government 316 00:14:38,595 --> 00:14:40,105 after the Cuban Revolution, 317 00:14:40,165 --> 00:14:44,105 and in various Latin American revolutionary movements. 318 00:14:45,335 --> 00:14:47,355 - And because she was an insider, 319 00:14:47,355 --> 00:14:48,915 she'd grown up in a privileged family. 320 00:14:49,535 --> 00:14:50,915 She had a lot of insight that these, 321 00:14:50,925 --> 00:14:52,805 these middle class kidnappers did not have. 322 00:14:53,345 --> 00:14:55,525 And that was part of what resonated, you know, 323 00:14:55,525 --> 00:14:58,325 when her communicates went up on front pages 324 00:14:58,345 --> 00:15:01,365 of the Hearst newspaper and, and television 325 00:15:01,425 --> 00:15:04,045 and radio, even though there was no 326 00:15:04,045 --> 00:15:05,125 social media at the time. 327 00:15:05,825 --> 00:15:08,245 She, in effect, was one 328 00:15:08,245 --> 00:15:10,965 of America's first social media stars. 329 00:15:11,855 --> 00:15:15,165 Every channel that you can imagine, uh, all over the world, 330 00:15:15,665 --> 00:15:19,645 uh, w wa was endlessly, uh, covering Patty Hurst. 331 00:15:19,645 --> 00:15:21,565 I think there were seven Newsweek covers. 332 00:15:22,025 --> 00:15:24,485 And the story was so big, this crime story was so big 333 00:15:24,835 --> 00:15:27,005 that it knocked Watergate off the front page. 334 00:15:27,515 --> 00:15:30,045 Hard to believe it was bigger than the 335 00:15:30,045 --> 00:15:31,205 impeachment of the President. 336 00:15:32,145 --> 00:15:35,035 - Rappaport says, the kidnappers did not like the heat 337 00:15:35,035 --> 00:15:37,915 that the Patty Hearst abduction was bringing down on them 338 00:15:38,265 --> 00:15:39,555 with her communiques. 339 00:15:40,485 --> 00:15:42,735 - They told her, they said, listen, we just want the money 340 00:15:42,795 --> 00:15:43,855 and we want the publicity. 341 00:15:43,855 --> 00:15:46,575 We don't want you because you're a liability. 342 00:15:46,915 --> 00:15:49,175 You know, if you stay with us, the, the FBI, 343 00:15:49,395 --> 00:15:51,215 the search is gonna get bigger and bigger 344 00:15:51,235 --> 00:15:53,095 and, you know, we're much more vulnerable. 345 00:15:53,635 --> 00:15:55,695 But when she started writing these communiques, 346 00:15:55,695 --> 00:15:58,015 explaining her point of view and why she was gonna stay 347 00:15:58,015 --> 00:15:59,455 and fight, they all read them 348 00:15:59,455 --> 00:16:01,255 and said, listen, you know, this is crazy. 349 00:16:01,455 --> 00:16:02,655 I mean, what, what you're saying 350 00:16:02,755 --> 00:16:06,535 and attacking the pig hers, it's, nobody's gonna believe it. 351 00:16:06,535 --> 00:16:08,055 You know, they're gonna think we wrote it for you. 352 00:16:08,235 --> 00:16:10,615 You've gotta tone it down. So they did. 353 00:16:10,645 --> 00:16:13,775 They actually convinced her to rewrite her, her communiques, 354 00:16:14,185 --> 00:16:15,975 which if you read them today, a lot of 355 00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:18,495 what she talked about, particularly on the feminist side, 356 00:16:18,755 --> 00:16:19,855 echoes the Me Too movement. 357 00:16:20,325 --> 00:16:22,815 Obviously prison, prison rights was in there, 358 00:16:23,235 --> 00:16:24,255 the Vietnam War. 359 00:16:24,925 --> 00:16:26,795 - Patty Hearst issued a series 360 00:16:26,815 --> 00:16:29,555 of audio communiques on cassette tapes, 361 00:16:30,105 --> 00:16:32,435 left at radio stations and flower shops. 362 00:16:33,145 --> 00:16:35,595 Rappaport says, Hearst denounced her fiance 363 00:16:36,535 --> 00:16:38,475 and announced that she had fallen in love 364 00:16:38,625 --> 00:16:39,955 with one of her kidnappers. 365 00:16:40,295 --> 00:16:42,235 - And everybody's, you know, the media thought, oh, well, 366 00:16:42,235 --> 00:16:46,395 this is just a, you know, contrived bunch of communiques. 367 00:16:46,395 --> 00:16:48,195 They're using her as a mouthpiece. 368 00:16:48,215 --> 00:16:51,115 But then a few weeks later, she was on camera 369 00:16:51,735 --> 00:16:55,715 in a bank robbery, or the SLA successfully raided a bank 370 00:16:55,715 --> 00:16:58,315 owned by the father of a close childhood friend, 371 00:16:58,895 --> 00:17:00,555 and walked off with $10,000. 372 00:17:00,615 --> 00:17:02,715 So now her picture was on post office walls. 373 00:17:07,015 --> 00:17:09,395 - The story which was garnering national 374 00:17:09,495 --> 00:17:12,955 and international attention took a shocking turn. 375 00:17:13,055 --> 00:17:16,595 In April, 1974, two and a half months 376 00:17:16,645 --> 00:17:20,275 after her kidnapping, Hearst, AKA Tanya, 377 00:17:20,855 --> 00:17:24,435 and four SLA members held up a branch office 378 00:17:24,495 --> 00:17:28,475 of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco for $10,000. 379 00:17:30,155 --> 00:17:33,275 A surveillance camera captured Hearst brandishing a 380 00:17:33,295 --> 00:17:36,115 semi-automatic rifle on a sling over her shoulder 381 00:17:36,775 --> 00:17:38,795 and barking orders to customers. 382 00:17:39,735 --> 00:17:41,635 She did not try to hide her face, 383 00:17:42,315 --> 00:17:44,235 although she had dyed her hair dark 384 00:17:45,325 --> 00:17:48,355 Patty Hurst suddenly became America's most famous 385 00:17:49,285 --> 00:17:50,565 revolutionary terrorist. 386 00:17:51,465 --> 00:17:54,405 The FBI had already launched one of its most massive 387 00:17:54,915 --> 00:17:58,245 ancient intensive searches in history to find Hurst 388 00:17:58,625 --> 00:18:00,245 and stop the SLA. 389 00:18:04,105 --> 00:18:06,045 - Things were getting kind of hot after the BA robbery. 390 00:18:06,105 --> 00:18:10,005 So Donald d Freeze knew a lot of people in Los Angeles, 391 00:18:10,095 --> 00:18:12,125 where he, he, he'd begun his criminal career 392 00:18:12,145 --> 00:18:13,365 and he had a safe house there, 393 00:18:13,905 --> 00:18:15,365 and they divided into three teams. 394 00:18:15,395 --> 00:18:16,885 Bill Harris told me about this, 395 00:18:16,905 --> 00:18:19,005 and by, by the way, my, my interview with Bill, 396 00:18:19,225 --> 00:18:20,445 the one I did after he got jail, 397 00:18:20,865 --> 00:18:22,525 is in searching for Patty Hearst. 398 00:18:22,755 --> 00:18:25,605 What happened was that Patty joined a team 399 00:18:26,285 --> 00:18:28,765 with the Harrises, and they went shopping. 400 00:18:28,825 --> 00:18:30,325 And during that event, 401 00:18:30,825 --> 00:18:32,485 at a sporting goods store in Inglewood, 402 00:18:32,545 --> 00:18:35,285 Harris was being tackled by security guards 403 00:18:35,285 --> 00:18:36,645 for allegedly shoplifting. 404 00:18:37,095 --> 00:18:39,525 Patty was in a van across the street on the floor, 405 00:18:40,145 --> 00:18:42,165 and heard the commotion and jumped up, 406 00:18:42,585 --> 00:18:44,605 and with an M1 that she was trained on, 407 00:18:44,705 --> 00:18:46,605 and a machine gun that she was not trained on. 408 00:18:46,985 --> 00:18:49,485 She fired off about 80 rounds, and the Harrisons escaped, 409 00:18:49,985 --> 00:18:52,045 but, uh, that van was hot. 410 00:18:52,665 --> 00:18:54,405 So they went ahead and carjacked a, 411 00:18:54,565 --> 00:18:56,445 a teenager abandoned the van, 412 00:18:56,445 --> 00:18:57,845 which had a parking ticket on it. 413 00:18:57,905 --> 00:19:01,365 And that parking ticket led the police to the safe house, 414 00:19:01,365 --> 00:19:03,045 which they had left by that point. 415 00:19:03,145 --> 00:19:05,125 But they quickly found the new safe house. 416 00:19:05,785 --> 00:19:09,205 So while the Harrises and Patty were on the run 417 00:19:09,345 --> 00:19:13,005 and carjacked this kidnapper, the SLA was being surrounded, 418 00:19:13,385 --> 00:19:15,885 and they checked into a motel, the three 419 00:19:15,885 --> 00:19:17,925 of them in Anaheim across from Disneyland, 420 00:19:17,925 --> 00:19:21,125 and watched their, their six comrades be exterminated. 421 00:19:22,025 --> 00:19:24,645 - The Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team 422 00:19:25,325 --> 00:19:28,845 surrounded the SLA safe house in South Central Los Angeles. 423 00:19:30,025 --> 00:19:32,165 An officer announced over a bullhorn. 424 00:19:32,715 --> 00:19:35,965 This is the LPD, come out with your hands up 425 00:19:35,965 --> 00:19:37,605 and leave your weapons in the house. 426 00:19:38,795 --> 00:19:42,655 He repeated the message 25 times with no response. 427 00:19:42,655 --> 00:19:43,695 According to police, 428 00:19:44,775 --> 00:19:48,115 the half dozen heavily armed SLA members opened a fire. 429 00:19:49,305 --> 00:19:53,675 410 officers converged on the scene, many trying 430 00:19:53,675 --> 00:19:56,595 to control the 10,000 spectators drawn 431 00:19:56,655 --> 00:19:59,275 by live television use coverage of it. 432 00:20:00,525 --> 00:20:03,985 An estimated 9,000 rounds were fired during a furious 433 00:20:04,645 --> 00:20:05,825 two hour gun battle. 434 00:20:06,975 --> 00:20:08,155 The house caught fire 435 00:20:08,405 --> 00:20:11,275 after officers shot tear gas rounds into it. 436 00:20:12,065 --> 00:20:15,315 Four of the SLA members were found dead beneath the house, 437 00:20:15,315 --> 00:20:18,755 including Donald Def Freeze, who had found the SLA 438 00:20:19,665 --> 00:20:21,885 two others died attempting to escape. 439 00:20:22,645 --> 00:20:25,805 A police officer said they had pistols in each hand 440 00:20:25,945 --> 00:20:27,325 and went down blazing. 441 00:20:27,665 --> 00:20:30,885 It was like the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 442 00:20:32,355 --> 00:20:35,555 Everyone then asked, where's Patty was her body 443 00:20:35,725 --> 00:20:37,315 among the charred remains 444 00:20:37,975 --> 00:20:38,975 - At that time? 445 00:20:38,975 --> 00:20:40,075 It, it's hard to believe it, 446 00:20:40,095 --> 00:20:42,635 but no one knew if Patty Herst was in that house, 447 00:20:42,635 --> 00:20:44,875 whether they had shot and killed Patty or not. 448 00:20:44,935 --> 00:20:48,565 It took days because teargas set the house on fire, 449 00:20:49,055 --> 00:20:51,445 which meant that they had charred remains 450 00:20:51,795 --> 00:20:52,885 that they had to examine. 451 00:20:53,225 --> 00:20:56,205 So the family had to wait for days to find out if Patty 452 00:20:56,745 --> 00:20:57,965 was in fact, one of the victims. 453 00:20:59,115 --> 00:21:01,775 - The SLA was now down to three members. 454 00:21:02,465 --> 00:21:05,535 Patty Hearst, bill Harris, and his wife Emily. 455 00:21:06,405 --> 00:21:08,335 They split up and won on the run. 456 00:21:09,225 --> 00:21:12,815 Patty Hurst linked up with new converts to the SLA, 457 00:21:13,785 --> 00:21:16,725 the FBI worked six days a week and 12 hour shifts, 458 00:21:17,265 --> 00:21:19,565 and checked out thousands of leads. 459 00:21:20,265 --> 00:21:24,845 - The FBI figured out that one way to track Patty 460 00:21:25,425 --> 00:21:28,165 was to check the records of all the new hookups, 461 00:21:28,315 --> 00:21:29,885 because they knew that, you know, 462 00:21:30,085 --> 00:21:31,685 wherever she was, she had to have power. 463 00:21:32,425 --> 00:21:35,805 And as they were going through the list of all the new pg e 464 00:21:36,325 --> 00:21:39,325 subscribers, they found this place on Morse Avenue 465 00:21:39,855 --> 00:21:41,565 where somebody was stealing power. 466 00:21:41,675 --> 00:21:44,565 They hadn't actually put down a deposit or anything. 467 00:21:44,565 --> 00:21:46,725 They, they were literally piring off somebody 468 00:21:46,745 --> 00:21:48,165 else's power supply. 469 00:21:48,545 --> 00:21:50,885 And that turned out to be where Patty was literally. 470 00:21:51,305 --> 00:21:53,725 And so they began, you know, when they got there, 471 00:21:54,315 --> 00:21:56,645 they walked in and, and she said, you know, don't shoot. 472 00:21:56,785 --> 00:21:58,045 She had guns on the kitchen table. 473 00:21:58,305 --> 00:22:00,485 And then the Harrisons were captured on the same day, 474 00:22:00,485 --> 00:22:02,365 living in another living apartment nearby. 475 00:22:02,435 --> 00:22:04,845 They were actually out jogging when they were captured 476 00:22:05,805 --> 00:22:08,105 - The FBI arrested Patty Hearst 477 00:22:08,105 --> 00:22:11,225 and charged her with bank robbery 19 months 478 00:22:11,275 --> 00:22:13,785 after her kidnapping by the SLA 479 00:22:14,795 --> 00:22:18,045 when booked in Hearst, listed her occupation 480 00:22:18,045 --> 00:22:19,405 as urban gorilla, 481 00:22:19,745 --> 00:22:23,405 and raised a clenched fist in a revolutionary salute. 482 00:22:24,845 --> 00:22:26,225 At a sensational trial, 483 00:22:26,445 --> 00:22:30,225 Hearst high powered defense attorney f Lee Bailey, tried 484 00:22:30,225 --> 00:22:32,665 to mount a defense that the young heiress was a victim, 485 00:22:33,375 --> 00:22:35,865 brainwashed and raped by her abductors. 486 00:22:36,905 --> 00:22:39,275 Well, the prosecutors played a jail cell recording 487 00:22:39,275 --> 00:22:42,795 of Hearst, talking with a friend in which she was cursing 488 00:22:43,135 --> 00:22:46,555 and fully aware of her role with ESLA. 489 00:22:47,785 --> 00:22:50,545 - I was at the trial, interestingly, I wrote, wrote 490 00:22:50,545 --> 00:22:52,265 for a Hearst newspaper, if you could believe that. 491 00:22:52,925 --> 00:22:55,545 And, um, the trial was, was kind of a circus. 492 00:22:55,835 --> 00:22:58,345 Patty was quite defiant at the time. 493 00:22:58,725 --> 00:23:01,625 She was writing mash notes to Steve Solia, one 494 00:23:01,625 --> 00:23:03,225 of the SLA members, when she was captured. 495 00:23:04,085 --> 00:23:06,705 And it was Ley Bailey's, probably worst moment. 496 00:23:06,845 --> 00:23:09,505 He signed a fee agreement that gave him the book rights 497 00:23:10,305 --> 00:23:11,585 18 months ahead of Patty's book, 498 00:23:12,045 --> 00:23:14,905 and then proceeded to just mounted brainwashing defense 499 00:23:14,905 --> 00:23:17,025 that just cratered, uh, in court. 500 00:23:17,165 --> 00:23:19,545 And then even worse, uh, Willie Wolf, 501 00:23:19,965 --> 00:23:21,985 who she claimed had abused her, the guy 502 00:23:21,985 --> 00:23:24,865 that she in her communicates, she said she was in love with. 503 00:23:25,085 --> 00:23:28,545 It, turned out that she had a carved ec monkey 504 00:23:29,075 --> 00:23:32,105 stone carving in her purse that matched one 505 00:23:32,105 --> 00:23:33,385 that he'd been wearing on a necklace. 506 00:23:33,885 --> 00:23:37,065 And this was, you know, like 15 months after he died. 507 00:23:37,165 --> 00:23:39,625 Why is she still carrying this love token from a guy 508 00:23:39,625 --> 00:23:40,705 that she claimed abused her? 509 00:23:40,705 --> 00:23:43,345 And that really was devastating in the, 510 00:23:43,445 --> 00:23:44,905 in the case, just terrible. 511 00:23:46,085 --> 00:23:49,055 - Did she testify? - Yes, very badly. 512 00:23:49,395 --> 00:23:51,655 And it was a sort of an architected defense 513 00:23:51,885 --> 00:23:53,495 that Bailey kind of created for her. 514 00:23:53,515 --> 00:23:55,975 But she really had a hard time on, 515 00:23:56,275 --> 00:23:57,415 you know, on, on the cross. 516 00:23:58,075 --> 00:24:00,935 Um, because of all these, this evidence that showed that, 517 00:24:01,395 --> 00:24:05,055 you know, far from being a victim that was forced 518 00:24:05,055 --> 00:24:06,615 to rob this bank, she deliberately, 519 00:24:07,215 --> 00:24:08,615 deliberately went in front 520 00:24:08,615 --> 00:24:10,455 of the cameras on the security recordings 521 00:24:10,455 --> 00:24:14,375 to let people know, um, that, that it was her Patty, 522 00:24:14,515 --> 00:24:18,175 you know, that, that she in fact, was not brainwashed, 523 00:24:18,175 --> 00:24:20,135 you know, that she had decided to voluntarily join 524 00:24:20,135 --> 00:24:21,455 this bank robbery. 525 00:24:22,075 --> 00:24:23,335 And that that was the argument 526 00:24:23,335 --> 00:24:24,935 of the prosecution, and it worked 527 00:24:25,165 --> 00:24:26,165 - Well. 528 00:24:26,165 --> 00:24:27,655 As a reporter, you're always kind of watching the jury. 529 00:24:27,765 --> 00:24:28,975 What was their reaction 530 00:24:29,075 --> 00:24:31,095 and did they, any of them talk after the verdict? 531 00:24:31,765 --> 00:24:32,855 - Well, you'll love this story. 532 00:24:33,165 --> 00:24:34,895 There's a lot of debate about a lot of things. 533 00:24:34,915 --> 00:24:37,175 But that, that this is absolutely true. 534 00:24:37,955 --> 00:24:39,935 The jury was selected in a private session, 535 00:24:40,555 --> 00:24:41,935 and not just Patty's parents, 536 00:24:42,035 --> 00:24:45,445 but the Hearst family was there on the jury selection. 537 00:24:45,445 --> 00:24:48,085 And the judge was a personal friend of Randy Hearst. 538 00:24:48,345 --> 00:24:52,245 He had known Patty as a, uh, young, young girl. 539 00:24:52,785 --> 00:24:55,405 So the, obviously, the implication was 540 00:24:55,405 --> 00:24:56,685 that she was easily gonna get off, 541 00:24:57,225 --> 00:24:58,565 and that was Bailey's assumption. 542 00:24:58,565 --> 00:25:00,565 That's why he signed this big book contract. 543 00:25:01,085 --> 00:25:02,165 'cause he knew he was gonna make a lot of 544 00:25:02,165 --> 00:25:03,205 money after he won the case. 545 00:25:03,865 --> 00:25:07,205 But the jury, which obviously seemed 546 00:25:08,075 --> 00:25:10,135 to be favorable under a judge who knew the family, 547 00:25:10,645 --> 00:25:12,015 they just weren't buying her story. 548 00:25:12,865 --> 00:25:14,205 - Hattie Hurst was sentenced 549 00:25:14,205 --> 00:25:16,525 to seven years in the Federal penitentiary. 550 00:25:17,185 --> 00:25:20,125 She served two years when President Jimmy Carter 551 00:25:20,685 --> 00:25:21,845 commuted her sentence, 552 00:25:22,635 --> 00:25:24,325 - Well, the committee to Free Patty Hearst, 553 00:25:24,325 --> 00:25:25,525 which was a very extensive 554 00:25:25,985 --> 00:25:29,645 and well financed rehabilitating Patty's image campaign 555 00:25:30,215 --> 00:25:32,205 after she lost in the trial and went to jail. 556 00:25:32,595 --> 00:25:36,065 They didn't just do a, a, like a PR campaign. 557 00:25:36,495 --> 00:25:38,745 They actually got, uh, Caesar Chavez. 558 00:25:39,025 --> 00:25:40,865 Remember I told you that Patty had walked 559 00:25:40,865 --> 00:25:42,505 through a United Farm Workers picket line? 560 00:25:42,505 --> 00:25:44,465 Mm-Hmm, Caesar Chavez was one of the people 561 00:25:44,465 --> 00:25:47,745 who supported, even though she, she defied his union. 562 00:25:48,045 --> 00:25:49,865 He supported her being commuted. 563 00:25:50,015 --> 00:25:52,905 They got the head of the San Francisco FBI office, you know, 564 00:25:52,905 --> 00:25:56,185 that had, um, been involved in arresting her. 565 00:25:56,445 --> 00:25:58,505 He wrote a letter on behalf of her. 566 00:25:58,885 --> 00:26:02,265 And believe it or not, Ronald Reagan, who at one point said, 567 00:26:02,365 --> 00:26:05,145 during the free food program, I hope all these poor people 568 00:26:05,165 --> 00:26:07,225 who get the free food from the ransom effort 569 00:26:07,335 --> 00:26:08,545 come down with botulism. 570 00:26:08,765 --> 00:26:10,385 He also supported it. 571 00:26:10,385 --> 00:26:12,905 Now, remember, Patty's mother was a region at 572 00:26:12,905 --> 00:26:13,945 the University of California. 573 00:26:14,205 --> 00:26:15,465 Reagan had appointed her. 574 00:26:15,845 --> 00:26:17,825 So they got a lot of celebrities on board 575 00:26:18,405 --> 00:26:20,585 to support this, uh, commutation. 576 00:26:21,245 --> 00:26:22,385 And that worked quite well. 577 00:26:22,965 --> 00:26:26,105 And then as far as the pardon goes the book in the movie, 578 00:26:26,165 --> 00:26:27,585 and a lot of interviews she did, 579 00:26:27,585 --> 00:26:28,545 she was interviewing everywhere, 580 00:26:28,575 --> 00:26:29,985 telling her side of the story. 581 00:26:30,605 --> 00:26:34,105 And it is last official act in 2001, 582 00:26:35,175 --> 00:26:37,625 president Clinton, pardon Patty. 583 00:26:38,885 --> 00:26:40,745 - Two months after her release from prison, 584 00:26:41,325 --> 00:26:42,825 Hearst married a police officer 585 00:26:43,105 --> 00:26:45,565 who had guarded her while she was out on bail. 586 00:26:46,115 --> 00:26:47,525 They had two children together. 587 00:26:48,635 --> 00:26:51,975 Hearst turned 70 in February, 2024. 588 00:26:52,675 --> 00:26:55,215 She has been in the news in recent years for her dogs, 589 00:26:55,215 --> 00:26:56,775 mostly French bulldogs 590 00:26:57,085 --> 00:26:59,735 that have won prizes at the Westminster 591 00:26:59,835 --> 00:27:01,175 Kennel Club Dog Show. 592 00:27:02,645 --> 00:27:04,725 Rappaport did not get an interview with her 593 00:27:05,345 --> 00:27:06,445 during his booked tour. 594 00:27:06,745 --> 00:27:08,965 New information has surfaced from witnesses 595 00:27:08,965 --> 00:27:11,725 to the abduction, which he updates on his website, 596 00:27:12,015 --> 00:27:13,645 Patty hurst.com. 597 00:27:15,245 --> 00:27:17,485 - I was doing a talk in San Francisco, 598 00:27:17,545 --> 00:27:19,805 and this woman had had been writing to me about it. 599 00:27:19,805 --> 00:27:21,605 She came to the talk and then she sent me an email. 600 00:27:22,225 --> 00:27:26,565 She was recruited by the SLA during their time in, in, 601 00:27:26,585 --> 00:27:28,045 um, Berkeley and Oakland. 602 00:27:28,185 --> 00:27:29,525 And she went to a recruiting meeting. 603 00:27:29,995 --> 00:27:31,245 They were trying to get her to join, 604 00:27:31,745 --> 00:27:34,405 and she said it was the unbelievably scary, 605 00:27:34,405 --> 00:27:36,725 there were weapons everywhere, the rhetoric and so on. 606 00:27:37,065 --> 00:27:38,605 And she obviously didn't join, 607 00:27:39,225 --> 00:27:41,685 but this was the climate of what they were trying to do. 608 00:27:42,075 --> 00:27:44,085 They would mask people, take them 609 00:27:44,085 --> 00:27:45,445 to secret meetings and so on. 610 00:27:45,465 --> 00:27:48,925 So they were struggling to find the right new membership, 611 00:27:49,025 --> 00:27:51,645 you know, everywhere they went, they were very, 612 00:27:51,715 --> 00:27:52,725 very heavily armed. 613 00:27:53,585 --> 00:27:55,165 - All these years later, 50 years later, 614 00:27:57,055 --> 00:27:59,675 what's your summation of what happened here? 615 00:28:00,915 --> 00:28:04,045 - Well, in searching for Patty Hearst, I attempt 616 00:28:04,545 --> 00:28:07,245 to give the reader an opportunity to come 617 00:28:07,245 --> 00:28:09,485 to their own conclusions about what really happened. 618 00:28:09,505 --> 00:28:12,605 And that's really the point of, of the book, is I want 619 00:28:13,185 --> 00:28:14,565 the people who listen to your show 620 00:28:15,425 --> 00:28:18,085 to not just take any one person's word, not just 621 00:28:18,205 --> 00:28:20,805 for this case, but any case, and, and do their own homework. 622 00:28:20,965 --> 00:28:22,125 'cause I think that's the way you need 623 00:28:22,125 --> 00:28:23,245 to approach the world. 624 00:28:23,305 --> 00:28:24,485 And that's what journalists do. 625 00:28:27,265 --> 00:28:30,645 - Now, from my reporter's notebook, some closing thoughts. 626 00:28:31,785 --> 00:28:36,165 Was Patty Hurst a victim or a villain was Patty Hurst. 627 00:28:36,165 --> 00:28:39,485 An impressionable college student had grown up in a 628 00:28:39,485 --> 00:28:43,285 sheltered, wealthy family, more vulnerable to her captors. 629 00:28:44,215 --> 00:28:46,485 Young adults in the midst of forming an identity 630 00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:50,605 and seeking a sense of purpose may be more susceptible 631 00:28:50,605 --> 00:28:51,965 to the allure of cults. 632 00:28:52,825 --> 00:28:56,125 The SLA fits the definition of a cult-like family. 633 00:28:57,505 --> 00:28:59,565 Or did her sense of abandonment 634 00:28:59,905 --> 00:29:02,965 by her family turn her into a true believer? 635 00:29:04,135 --> 00:29:08,325 50 years later, the verdict of public opinion is still out. 636 00:29:09,215 --> 00:29:11,925 Patty Hearst image, brandishing an assault rifle 637 00:29:11,925 --> 00:29:15,405 during the bank robbery is forever seared 638 00:29:15,915 --> 00:29:17,565 into any discussion about her. 639 00:29:19,075 --> 00:29:21,685 This is Robert Riggs reporting.