On April 3, 1974, the SLA released a shocking audio communiqué in which Patty Hearst said the group had given her the option of returning to her parents or "joining the forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army and fighting for my freedom and the freedom of all oppressed people."

"I have chosen to stay and fight," she said.

Hearst called the food distribution plan a "sham" and her father a "corporate liar" and announced she had adopted the revolutionary name "Tania." The communiqué also included a snapshot of Hearst carrying a machine gun and standing in front of a seven-headed cobra poster.

Her parents and fiance immediately speculated that Hearst had been brainwashed or coerced into making the tape, but those charges became harder to maintain after April 15. On that Monday morning, the SLA robbed a Hibernia Bank branch in San Francisco. Two surveillance cameras captured Hearst carrying a carbine and shouting orders at terrified bank customers. Two bystanders were shot during the robbery, which netted the SLA $10,692.

The U.S. attorney general labeled Hearst a "common criminal" and authorities printed wanted posters seeking her as a material witness to the robbery.


NEXT: Fire and flight