What Happened This Day in History February 4th

This whole event was really very bizarre. Patty Hearst was the daughter of Randolph Hearst who was the son of William Randolph Hearst a famous newspaper publisher. Patty Hearst was one of five daughters.

Ms. Hearst was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkley, California. On February 4, 1974 she was kidnapped by a group called the Symbionese Liberation Army or SLA for short. Their demand for freeing Patty was for the family to give $70 in food to families all across the state of California. The family gave away around two million dollars worth of food, but the SLA demanded that more be given away.

Before their demands could be met a rather strange twist to the story evolved. One evening in April of that year everyone saw Patty Hearst on the television news with an automatic weapon in her hands at the scene of a bank robbery. That picture was seen on televisions and in newspapers across the country. Many speculated that she was not kidnapped at all but was part of a scheme to coerce her family into giving away millions in order to secure her safe return. I also remember seeing her family on television pleading with her kidnappers to return their daughter.

Somehow the police found the headquarters of the SLA and raided it killing six of the individuals, but Patty Hearst was not at the location. I remember the scenes on the evening news from the house burning after the police had fired many rounds of ammunition into the building it seems the members of the SLA decided they would rather not be captured and shot at the police.

On September 17, 1975 they caught up with Patty Hearst in San Francisco and she was arrested and charged with armed robbery. She was convicted in 1976 and went to prison. She has always claimed that she was brainwashed by the SLA. After serving 21 months President Carter commuted her sentence and she was released from prison. Later on President Clinton pardoned her.

While in prison Patty met Bernard Shaw a guard. Later when she was released from prison they got married. Patty now lives in Connecticut with her husband and two daughters.

Source:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=VideoArticle&id=4735

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32089504/ns/dateline_nbc-newsmakers/page/6/