His seven-headed SLA hydra-like cobra symbol was based on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, each head representing a principle. Īfter the departure of Thero Wheeler, DeFreeze was the SLA's only remaining black member. DeFreeze wanted all races, genders, and ages to fight together in a left-wing united front, and to live together peacefully. In his manifesto "Symbionese Liberation Army Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program", Donald DeFreeze wrote: "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body." This political symbiosis DeFreeze describes means the unity of all left-wing struggles, feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and others. The SLA manifesto for sale in a magazine-store in Stockholm, August 2008 As of 2017, all but one of the surviving SLA members have been released from prison. Hearst later said that members of the SLA threatened to kill her, held her in close confinement, and sexually assaulted and brainwashed her. Interest increased when Hearst, in audiotaped messages delivered to and broadcast by regional news media, announced that she had joined the SLA.
The SLA became internationally notorious for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst, abducting the 19-year-old from Berkeley, California. During its active years, the group committed bank robberies, murdered police officers and civilians, and attempted bombings, among other violent crimes. The SLA was considered a terrorist organization by the FBI and American law enforcement, and the pursuit and prosecution of its members lasted until 2003, when member Sara Jane Olson was sentenced for second-degree murder. The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army ( SLA) was an American left-wing organization, active between 19, that considered itself a vanguard army. May 16, 1974: Mel's Sporting Goods shot upĪpril 21, 1975: Crocker National Bank robbery November 6, 1973: Murder of Oakland school superintendent Marcus Fosterįebruary 4, 1974: kidnapping of Patty Hearst (died in police shootout May 17, 1974, aged 30), William Harris, alias "General Teko" (captured in 1975) Flag/banner of the Symbionese Liberation Armyĭonald DeFreeze, alias "General Field Marshal Cinque"