Hearst Says She Empathizes With Smart

AP | March 13, 2003

[Indy Pendance]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst said Thursday that she understands why Elizabeth Smart would have been unable to escape from her captors.

"You have been so abused and so robbed of your free will and so frightened that you believe any lie that your abductor has told you," Hearst told CNN's Larry King. "You think that either you will be killed if you reach out to get help or ... your family will be killed."

On Feb. 4, 1974, when she was a 19-year-old college student, Hearst was kidnapped by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. She eventually joined the group and helped them rob a bank; she was captured, convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison.

She was later pardoned by President Clinton for her role in the bank heist.

Authorities said Thursday that Elizabeth, now 15, was increasingly forced to depend on her captors during her nine-month disappearance. When found by Utah police Wednesday, she vehemently denied her identity when asked if she was Elizabeth Smart and told officers that the couple she was with were her parents.

"You have absorbed this new identity that they've given you," Hearst said.

Hearst, now known formally as Patricia Hearst Shaw, also said abductees become psychologically dependent upon their abductors.

"Many times, people who have been held hostage say, `They really were nice to me,'" she said. "But what they really means is, `Thank God they didn't kill me.'"

She said Elizabeth's family should keep the girl away from the news media.

"The experiences she's gone through have changed her," Hearst said. "She's never going to be the same trusting person. She's going to be very suspicious."

Hearst's father, Randolph Apperson Hearst, was the son of legendary newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Since her release from prison, she has appeared in several movies and television sitcoms, written novels and done charitable work.

[CGASMIA68]

Sounds like poor self-astime to me which allowed doubt to creep in and take over??????

[John Valentine]

Sounds like you are in need of some self-ass-time.

You really have no idea what you are mouthing off about, do you?

[Jael]

I don't think it's a self esteem issue.

It's kind of like having an abusive parent.

[Monty22]

c'mon, 14-15 is stretching it for ages, but Hearst was 19..

There's gotta be some age where these people are responsible..

[CGASMIA68]

Sorry John ...left the s out thanks for the Heads-up

[I still care]

Exactly. A 14 year old hauled about the country told she is the wife of a prophet is totally different than a 19 year old holding a gun in the middle of a bank during a robbery. Not that I don't believe Hearst suffered. But the situation is not analogous.

[John Valentine]

There was an issue of substance in there too... Do you really think that if this poor little girl had a bit more "self-esteem" she could have resisted the long term effects of kidnapping and indoctrination?

I think that is incredibly naive. She did what she had to do to survive, and that had a corrosive effect on her psyche. She wound up not even sure who she was. The scars will be with her for a long long time, maybe for the rest of her life.

I think we need to give this little survivor all our love and prayers.

[Captain Beyond]

I wish more people would take your lead on this. The rest of the threads dealing with this subject is nothing but gossip and slanderous allegations.

[conservagrrrl]

You know those hostages at the Kreditbank that helped make "Stockholm Syndrome" part of our lexicon?

They were absolutely older than 19. One of them even ended up marrying one of the captors because that person was so afflicted with Stockholm Syndrome and because no one knew how to treat said syndrome. They weren't weak; they were abused into thinking this way. Think of all the abused spouses out there who continue to go back to their abusers because they have been manipulated and bullied into doing such things. It takes a lot of inner strength to pull away from that.

You never know what your personal reaction is to events like these until they actually happen to you. Some people tried to break into our house and into my grandparents' house (they lived next door to us) all in one week, when I was about 11 years old. I have issues about home security to this very day, and that happened more than 10 years ago.

I'm going to leave all speculation for much later on. Right now, however, I choose to give thanks to God that Elizabeth Smart beat the odds and was returned to her parents still alive. And if that "Emanuel" laid one finger on Elizabeth, I hope and pray to God that the bastard becomes someone's prison bitch for the rest of his miserable little life.

*ahem*

[Dec31,1999]

If Larry says it, it's probably a lie.

[unspun]

I listened to Patti on Larry King and basically she's doing a very kind and diplomatic job, of saying:

Americans, please don't be such an ass about this terrorized girl, Elizabeth, as so many of you have been, about me. Please cut short your prurient interest and your desire to tear people down. Just mind your own blessed business!

Good for you, Patti! I'm proud of you, dear lady!

__________________________________________________
The word "ass" used, of course here, in the equine sense.

[unspun]

#13, if you please.

[Monty22]

I think 15 is a bit too old to play this game.

It's pretty obviously she was a willing participant in this circus, and that's really sad.

[aruanan]

So how long will it be before E.S. co-stars in a John Waters flick?

[unspun]

Kindly suggest that you study some of the psychology involved; also listen to former cult members and political prisoners. It's not always about what is obvious. :-`

[Monty22]

I've looked into it some, and I don't buy it. Looks like passing-the-buck stuff to me.

[unspun]

Its about how belief can be manipulated and how people may succumb to it. It's done all the time. I could bring up examples in churches, and among scientists... ;-)

[oyez]

Anybody got a picture of patty with the rifle robbing that bank?