Patty Hearst--Victim or Felon?

It was on this date 36 years ago that we first heard the name Patricia Hearst. On February 4, 1974, the 19 year-old media heiress captured headlines in her family’s newspapers as well as those across the world with word of her kidnapping.

An unknown group identified as the Symbionese Liberation Army claimed responsibility—and what unfolded over the next months and years became a bizarre tale of crime, brainwashing and perhaps…betrayal.

Patty, at the center of it all, fluctuated from being a victim to a willing participant in the revolutionary endeavors of the SLA. Never has the public been so confused as to the guilt or innocence of an individual as was the case with Patty Hearst. From sympathetic concern to uncertainty to conviction that she was part of the plot---all of these emotions swirled as public sentiment swung wildly with each news report. Her arrest in September of 1975 did little to settle the details of her captivity and subsequent participation in a crime caught on tape

To this day, many people frankly don’t know WHAT to believe. Neither do I, but I find the entire case fascinating.

From her abduction to her arrest, trial and conviction for bank robbery—to her release and subsequent Presidential pardon, Patty Hearst has been a mystery, en enigma.

Here are four videos you may find interesting:

A) News report shortly after her abduction in 1974
B) Bank footage of Patty during a robbery
C) Her appearance a couple of years ago on Larry King Live Part 1
D) Larry King appearance Part 2





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Q4XsXiZlc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad6s0gUgiwc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p05xGAvTjIg



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV9AGvfN13M


So….do you have an opinion? Was she a victim brainwashed by her captors—or did she evolve into a willing member of the SLA? Did she deserve to go to prison—or conversely, did she deserve a pardon?

We’ll probably never know the truth—and I doubt there will ever be a case even remotely similar.

If you’d like my blog in your weekday box, drop me a line: tim.moore@citcomm.com