Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Teen Girl Became a Terrorist - The Patty Hearst story

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

Patty Hearst was kidnapped and then joined the SLA

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Paradise, the official podcast, is now streaming. And stream Paradise on Kulu and Kulu on Disney Plus. So how did this rich teenage girl become the most wanted woman in America? Now her name's Patricia and she's 19 and she goes to college in California and one night in 1974 there's a knock at her door and she answers it and boom three people wearing masks bust into her apartment and they're armed. Then they grab her and they tie her up and they blindfold her and they throw her in the trunk of their car and they speed away and they bring her to a safe house and they throw her in

throw her in a closet. And this is actually a real-life photo of that tiny little closet. So who are these kidnappers? Well, they're actually members of a Marxist group called the SLA, and they think of themselves like Robin Hood types, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. And even though she's only 19 years old, Patricia is wealthy. Well, her family's wealthy. Her dad is actually Randy Hurst, the head of a newspaper empire. So not only is her family super wealthy, but they're sort of known for controlling the media. And because of this, the SLA sees kidnapping this rich man's daughter as the perfect symbol for what they stand for. And so, this kidnapping story blows up, and it becomes huge news all over the country. A few days later,

the SLA sends a letter to a local radio station for them to read on the air. And the letter is a message to Patricia's dad, like, we kidnap your daughter, bro. And once people are paying attention, the SLA sends an audio recording of Patricia. Mom, dad, I'm okay. I had a few scrapes and stuff, but they've washed them up and they're getting okay. And I've caught a cold, but they're giving me pills for it. But also, the SLA is on tape making demands. Before any form of negotiation for the release of the subject prisoner be initiated,

that an action of good faith be shown the part of the Hearst family. This gesture is to be in the form of food to the needs. and the unemployed. And so the SLA demands that Patricia's dad distribute $70 worth of food to every needy hungry person in the state of California, which would be around $500 a person today. But donating that much food would cost Patricia's dad an estimated $400 million. So Patricia's dad is like $400 million. Best I can do is $2 million.

And they're only going to distribute the food to needy people around the Bay Area specifically. And so they do this. They distribute $2 million worth of food and it kind of causes a riot, but they get it done. Despite that fact, the SLA doesn't release Patricia like they said they would. Meanwhile, Patricia's captors have started letting her out of the closet little by little, and she's been talking to them and listening to some of the things they're preaching, and they're making her read their manifestos and stuff. And over the course of a few weeks, she's like, damn, some of the SLA's ideas kind of make sense.

I mean, they're pro-women, they're anti-racism, they want the rich to have. help the needy. Some of these ideas are a little ahead of their time and this is very appealing to a 19 year old college student like Patricia. And so about a month later the SLA finally gives her the option to go home. I mean they can't hold her forever and they don't really have much use for her anymore, but Patricia decides nah, I want to join you. I want to be a part of the SLA. Plus she starts getting mad at her dad. She thinks he didn't do enough to help feed those needy people he agreed to feed. So she makes a new audio announcement and sends it. In the last week, it has become obvious to the SLA and to all hungry people and to me

that my father has not even attempted to show a gesture of good faith. And it's very clear from this recording that she has been fully radicalized. I have chosen to stay and fight. I've been given the name Tanya. Patrial Mwerte. Then about two weeks later, the SLA goes to rob a bank. And Patricia, as one of their members, goes with them. And so they roll up into this bank, and they've all got pew-pues. And they start screaming, put the money in the bag, or whatever. But you can see Patricia on security footage here, and she doesn't look like she's being held prisoner.

She looks like a full participant in this robbery. In fact, at one point, she even yells to the bank customers, up against the wall, motherfuckers. So, yeah, she seems fully committed to this. So anyway, Patricia and the others, they robbed the bank for over 10K, and they flee, and they get away. And once that security footage of the robbery is released, it makes the news.

And people see it, and they're freaking out like, yo, is that the Hearst daughter robbing a bank? And there's also this photo of her posing in front of an SLA flag, looking like a total badass. But anyway, all of this is pissing the FBI off, because they've been looking for the SLA hideout and they can't seem to find them. And so they put them all on the FBI's most wanted list,

including Patricia, who you can see right here. Now that their pictures are everywhere, the SLA knows it's only a matter of time before they're caught. So the whole group moves from the Bay Area all the way down to Los Angeles. And there is where shi starts to get real. One day, some SLA members go into a sporting goods store because they're going to do a little shoplifting. While they're inside, Patricia waits for them outside in the van. And so they're inside and they're shoplifting and some employees catch them and they confront them. And so the SLA members run outside and the employees chase them.

And Patricia, she sees what's going on and she grabs a pew-poo and she leans out the window and bhr. She spray shots all over the building. And so the employees, they back off. And Patricia and the SLA, they all get away. But this whole shoplifting gone wrong thing makes such a scene that the FBI and police now know that the SLA is in Los Angeles. And they're able to track down the van they got a way in. And tracking down this van leads them right to the SLA safe house. And the next day, boom, police have the safe house surrounded.

Like, come out with your hands up. But the SLA refuses to surrender, not without a fight. And so, pow, the whole scene turns into this massive shootout. The SLA is shooting on one side and the cop shooting on the other. And this thing goes on for like an hour. And the news crews are there. So this chaotic scene is happening live on TV. And eventually, police are like, all right.

and they throw some tear gas into one of the windows of the safe house, and you could see the place all fogging up. And then suddenly, kaboom, the SLA house catches on fire, and the whole place goes up in flames. And the SLA members inside, they all end up unalived, some from gunshots, some from the fire. But Patricia is nowhere to be found. And that's because she wasn't actually in the safe house. She's lying low with some other SLA members about 30 minutes away in. a hotel. And so they're in that hotel and they hear the news of all the other members dying in the shootout and they're like, oh shit. And so they go on the run. Sixteen months later, FBI tracked some

SLA members to an apartment in San Francisco. And they swoop in and bam, they finally arrest them. And Patricia. Here's her mugshot. Now, when Patricia is arrested, she appears to stand by her choice to join the SLA. I mean, you can see her here smiling, throwing up the revolutionary salute. And when she's booked, they ask her her occupation and she tells them urban gorilla. So like she's all in. But later, during her trial, she completely flips. She's like, actually, I was brainwashed. I was coerced into committing all those crimes. And you know, maybe she was. I don't know. You decide. I'm just a storyteller. But anyway, I guess the jury doesn't buy it because Patricia is found guilty of bank robbery and some other stuff and she's sentenced to seven years in prison.

And about two years later, I guess President Jimmy Carter feels differently than the jury because he commutes her sentence. So in total, she only spent like 22 months in prison before she's let out. And here she is holding up her order of clemency. Wow.