Who were the Symbionese?

The SLA, Symbionese Liberation Army, kidnapped Patty Hearst in the 70’s. Who were they and who were the symbionese they wanted to liberate?

There were no “Symbionese.” It was a name invented for the group (probably using the word symbiont to indicate that all people should live in mutually supportive harmony). They demanded that the Hearst family distribute much of their wealth to the poor and needy. The leader was a small-time crook. He may have set up the SLA as a scam of some sort or he may have actually believed the rhetoric he spewed, but we will never know because he got himself (and most of his small group) killed in a gun battle with police without ever issuing a manifesto or publishing a “position paper.”

A web search will turn up quite a few sketchy articles. I’m not sure whether Shana Alexander’s book, Anyone’s Daughter, dealing with the Hearst kidnapping and Patty Hearst’s “brainwashing” goes into much detail about the SLA.

Almost exactly two years ago, former SLA-member Katherine Ann Power was released from prison; she was serving time for a bank robbery during which another SLA’er, still jailed, had shot and killed a guard. (Power had lived under an assumed name for 30 years before turning herself in in '93.) Around that time there were several articles about the SLA, some of which are still available.

–Cliffy

Katharine Ann Power was not a member of the SLA. She was part of another radical organization.

In 1999, however, SLA associate Kathleen Soliah (now known as Sara Jane Olson) was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is still awaiting trial.

Robin