Bill Harris died of a heart attack at a San Francisco hospital on Sept. 10, his wife, Rebecca Young, told theNew York Times on Tuesday.
asserted
wife → die → Tuesday
Harris, who was born in Fort Sill, Okla., served in Vietnam as a Marine before enrolling at Indiana University after returning home.
There, he joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War, moved steadily to the left and met his first wife, Emily Schwartz, a fellow student from an affluent Chicago suburb who was also embracing far-left politics.
asserted
who → bear → politics
They married in 1971, the outlet reported.
asserted
outlet → marry → 1971
The couple later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where they joined the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) — a violent far-left group that had gained notoriety in 1973 for assassinating Oakland schools superintendent Marcus Foster — and helped plan the Hearst kidnapping.
asserted
that → move → kidnapping
Harris, by then a top lieutenant in the SLA, was thrust into the national spotlight after he and two others broke into Hearst’s Berkeley, Calif., apartment on Feb. 4, 1974, and dragged her away in a violent struggle, stuffing her into the trunk of a Chevrolet Impala, according to the FBI.
uncertain
he → thrust → FBI
At first, the group branded Hearst a “prisoner of war” and made no ransom demand, but later called on her family to bankroll a sweeping food giveaway for the poor across California.
asserted
group → brand → California
“Patricia Hearst was a symbolic target,” Harris later said of why the group chose her, according to the New York Times.
uncertain
group → say → Times
“Her family was in control of a media empire that we viewed as an arm of propaganda for the United States government.”
asserted
we → view → government
For weeks, Hearst was kept largely in a closet at an SLA safe house in Daly City, reading the group’s propaganda by flashlight.
In April 1974, the SLA released a photo of her clutching a gun, along with an audiotape in which she took the name “Tania” and denounced her family and the establishment, according to the FBI.
Less than two weeks later, the heiress went from kidnapping victim to bank robber — taking part in an SLA holdup of a Hibernia Bank branch in San Francisco and turning her abduction into one of the most bizarre and sensational criminal sagas of the 1970s.
uncertain
heiress → keep → 1970s
Hearst later said she had been coerced into joining the group and believed she would be killed if she refused — an account Harris disputed for decades.
asserted
Harris → say → decades
The SLA’s downfall began May 16, 1974, when Harris and his wife were nearly caught stealing an ammunition belt from a sporting goods store, according to the FBI.
uncertain
Harris → begin → FBI
Their getaway van led police to a South Central Los Angeles safe house.
asserted
van → lead → house
The next day, officers surrounded it, sparking a fierce shootout that set the building ablaze and killed six SLA members, including leader Donald DeFreeze.
asserted
that → surround → DeFreeze
The SLA struck again in April 1975, robbing a Crocker National Bank branch in Carmichael, outside Sacramento.
asserted
SLA → strike → Sacramento
During the holdup, Emily’s shotgun went off, killing Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old mother of four who was depositing church collections, according to the New York Times.
uncertain
who → go → Times
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asserted
Report → start → news
Hearst wasn’t inside the bank when Opsahl was killed.
asserted
Opsahl → kill → bank
She later testified that she had been waiting in a getaway car.
asserted
she → testify → car
After more than a year on the run, Hearst and the Harrises were arrested by FBI agents in San Francisco in September 1975.
asserted
Hearst → arrest → September
Hearst was convicted of armed bank robbery in 1976.
asserted
Hearst → convict → 1976
President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence in 1979, and President Bill Clinton later pardoned her, the outlet reported.
asserted
outlet → commute → her
Harris and Emily Harris served roughly eight years in prison for the kidnapping and were released in the early 1980s.
asserted
Harris → serve → 1980s
After his release, Harris divorced his first wife and built a new life as a private investigator.
asserted
Harris → divorce → investigator
In 1988, he married Young, a Bay Area defense lawyer, and the couple raised two sons in Oakland before settling in San Francisco, the New York Times reported.
asserted
Times → marry → Francisco
It would be more than 25 years before Harris and his former wife were charged in Opsahl’s killing.
asserted
Harris → charge → killing
In 2002, Harris, Emily Harris and other former SLA members pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
asserted
Harris → plead → murder
At his 2003 sentencing, Harris apologized to Opsahl’s family for his role in her death.
asserted
Harris → apologize → death
He was sentenced to seven years and served about four.
asserted
He → sentence → four
“If you do something and you succeed, then you’re a revolutionary of high quality and you get to be George Washington, the father of the country,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2002.
asserted
he → do → 2002
“But if you challenge power and you’re rubbed out, you’re in the trash bin of history.”
asserted
you → challenge → history
In a 2018 CNN interview, he said, “Reality isn’t always on the surface.
asserted
Reality → say → surface
Sometimes you have to look a little deeper to see what’s real.”
asserted
what → have → ?
Harris is survived by Young and their sons, Cody and Shane.
asserted
Harris → survive → Young
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