Patricia Hearst

Patricia Campbell Hearst born February 20 1954 is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army She was found and arrested 19 months after being abducted by which time she was a fugitive wanted for serious crimes committed with members of the group She was held in custody and there was speculation before trial that her familys resources would enable her to avoid time in prison At her trial the prosecution suggested that Hearst had joined the Symbionese Liberation Army of her own volition However she testified that she had been raped and threatened with death while held captive In 1976 she was convicted for the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison later reduced to seven years Her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter and she was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton Hearsts grandfather William Randolph Hearst created the largest newspaper magazine newsreel and film business in the world Her greatgrandmother was philanthropist Phoebe Hearst The family wielded immense political influence and opposed organized labor gold mine workers rights and communism since before World War II Hearst who prefers to be called Patricia rather than Patty was born on February 20 1954 in San Francisco California the third of five daughters of Randolph Apperson Hearst and Catherine Wood Campbell She was raised primarily in Hillsborough and attended its Crystal Springs School for Girls Sacred Heart school in Atherton and the Santa Catalina School in Monterey She attended Menlo College in Atherton California before transferring to the University of California Berkeley Hearsts father was among a number of heirs to the family fortune and did not have control of the Hearst interests Her parents had not considered it necessary to take preventive measures to assure their childrens personal security 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 On February 4 1974 19yearold Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley apartment A small urban guerrilla leftwing group called the Symbionese Liberation Army SLA claimed responsibility for the abduction Hearsts kidnapping was partly opportunistic as she resided near the SLA hideout According to testimony at trial the groups main intention was to leverage the Hearst familys political influence to free SLA members Russ Little and Joe Remiro who had been arrested for the November 1973 murder of Marcus Foster superintendent of Oakland public schools After the state refused to free the men the SLA demanded that Hearsts family distribute 70 worth of food to every needy Californian an operation that would cost an estimated 400 million In response Hearsts father obtained a loan and arranged the immediate donation of 2 million worth of food to the poor of the Bay Area for one year in a project called People in Need After the distribution descended into chaos the SLA refused to release Hearst Source Article Patty Hearst from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30