Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 80
race war. The son of the woman murdered during the robbery said that he thought Hearst
was "a victim of the SLA as much as our family was."
Hearst, who spent 21 months in prison until pardoned by former President Clinton, told King
that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, a claim that her prosecutor at the time, Jim
Browning, doesn't buy. "She has never admitted any culpability whatsoever, and that makes
me uncomfortable," he says. "The question was, was she forced or not? The jury decided
she was not." (John Koopman, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/23/02, Internet)
Larry King Interviews Patty Hearst on Mind Control
Patty Hearst told Larry King what it was like for her mind to be a "prisoner," as he
characterized her condition. "Most of the time I was with them, my mind was going through
doing exactly what I was supposed to do."
KING: What you were told?
HEARST: Yes. I mean — even if I weren't told, I had been educated very well in what to do.
I had been, you know, held in the closet for two months and, you know, abused in all
manner of ways. I was very good at doing what I was told. And as far as thinking...
KING: Was that Stockholm Syndrome part of the thinking or not?
HEARST: I'm sure it was. Of course it was. I mean, they call it Stockholm Syndrome and
post traumatic stress disorder. And, you know, I had no free will. I had virtually no free will
until I was separated from them for about two weeks. And then it suddenly, you know,
slowly began to dawn that they just weren't there any more. I could actually think my own
thoughts. It was considered wrong for me to think about my family. And when Cinque was
around, he didn't want me thinking about rescue because he thought that brain waves could
be read or that, you know, they'd get a psychic in to find me. And I was even afraid of
that."
CALLER: Hey, Ms. Hearst, I would like to know, have you ever felt guilty being a part of the
SLA and how do you handle the fact that so many others think you are just as guilty?
HEARST: You know, when I first was arrested and first going through the therapy with the
psychiatrist because I did feel really horrible. And I ---it was the kind of guilt that was ---a
lot of it stemmed from feeling so horrible that my mind could be controlled by anybody, that
I was so fragile that this could happen to me.
And because really we all think we're pretty strong and that nobody can make us do
something if we don't want to do it. That's true until somebody locks you up in a closet and
tortures you and finally makes you so weak that you completely break and will do anything
they say. And there was the feeling of guilt and self-loathing and despair and pain that was
just overwhelming.
KING: A brainwashed person doesn't know from time element when they're being
brainwashed, do they? They don't wake up one day and say, I have been brainwashed?
HEARST: No. No, they don't. They --I know for me, I thought that I was kind of fooling
them for a while, and the point when I knew that I was completely gone, I'm quite
convinced, was at the Mel Sporting Goods Store when I reflectively [sic] did exactly what I
had been trained to do that day instead of what any sensible person would have done or
person still in control of their senses and their responses, which would be the minute the
Harrises had left the van to have just run off and called the police.
At that point, you know, looking back, I can say that I was gone. I was so far gone I had no
clue how bad it was. (CNN Larry King Live, 1/22/02, Internet)
race war. The son of the woman murdered during the robbery said that he thought Hearst
was "a victim of the SLA as much as our family was."
Hearst, who spent 21 months in prison until pardoned by former President Clinton, told King
that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, a claim that her prosecutor at the time, Jim
Browning, doesn't buy. "She has never admitted any culpability whatsoever, and that makes
me uncomfortable," he says. "The question was, was she forced or not? The jury decided
she was not." (John Koopman, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/23/02, Internet)
Larry King Interviews Patty Hearst on Mind Control
Patty Hearst told Larry King what it was like for her mind to be a "prisoner," as he
characterized her condition. "Most of the time I was with them, my mind was going through
doing exactly what I was supposed to do."
KING: What you were told?
HEARST: Yes. I mean — even if I weren't told, I had been educated very well in what to do.
I had been, you know, held in the closet for two months and, you know, abused in all
manner of ways. I was very good at doing what I was told. And as far as thinking...
KING: Was that Stockholm Syndrome part of the thinking or not?
HEARST: I'm sure it was. Of course it was. I mean, they call it Stockholm Syndrome and
post traumatic stress disorder. And, you know, I had no free will. I had virtually no free will
until I was separated from them for about two weeks. And then it suddenly, you know,
slowly began to dawn that they just weren't there any more. I could actually think my own
thoughts. It was considered wrong for me to think about my family. And when Cinque was
around, he didn't want me thinking about rescue because he thought that brain waves could
be read or that, you know, they'd get a psychic in to find me. And I was even afraid of
that."
CALLER: Hey, Ms. Hearst, I would like to know, have you ever felt guilty being a part of the
SLA and how do you handle the fact that so many others think you are just as guilty?
HEARST: You know, when I first was arrested and first going through the therapy with the
psychiatrist because I did feel really horrible. And I ---it was the kind of guilt that was ---a
lot of it stemmed from feeling so horrible that my mind could be controlled by anybody, that
I was so fragile that this could happen to me.
And because really we all think we're pretty strong and that nobody can make us do
something if we don't want to do it. That's true until somebody locks you up in a closet and
tortures you and finally makes you so weak that you completely break and will do anything
they say. And there was the feeling of guilt and self-loathing and despair and pain that was
just overwhelming.
KING: A brainwashed person doesn't know from time element when they're being
brainwashed, do they? They don't wake up one day and say, I have been brainwashed?
HEARST: No. No, they don't. They --I know for me, I thought that I was kind of fooling
them for a while, and the point when I knew that I was completely gone, I'm quite
convinced, was at the Mel Sporting Goods Store when I reflectively [sic] did exactly what I
had been trained to do that day instead of what any sensible person would have done or
person still in control of their senses and their responses, which would be the minute the
Harrises had left the van to have just run off and called the police.
At that point, you know, looking back, I can say that I was gone. I was so far gone I had no
clue how bad it was. (CNN Larry King Live, 1/22/02, Internet)
