Talk:Symbionese Liberation Army

The Bonnot Gang

It may just be my fancy, but I'd like to work in a link to the Bonnot gang, who I think were similar in style to the SLA. They were politicals/revolutionaries who robbed banks, used the technology of the times to advantage (The Bonnot Gang used cars to escape, the SLA manipulated the media), and both were decimated by bloddy police shoot-outs. Any comments, am I taking this too far? An An 04:44, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Camilla (and Nancy): armed/unarmed?

Right now the section about the shootout says

One woman came out to surrender and the police shot her in the head.

This doesn't jibe with the page on Camilla Hall, which states that

Camilla died in a shootout (May 17, 1974, 9 000 rounds fired) with police in which five other SLA members were killed. Reportedly, she was shot in the head while charging the police with a pistol.

So which is it? Did the police shoot an unarmed woman who was trying to surrender, or an armed one who was charging them? This is significant, especially given what the police are quoted as saying a few sentences earlier. ("Come on out! The house is on fire! You will not be harmed.")

Note: The page on Nancy Ling Perry adds this, which contradicts the "one woman" part above. Hmph.

As the their hideout burned, Perry and fellow SLA member Camilla Hall exited the back door. Police claimed that Perry came out firing a revolver while Hall fired an automatic pistol. Police shot them both immediately. Perry was shot twicel; one shot hit her right lung, the other shot severing her spine. Hall was shot once in the forehead. Investigators working for her parents claimed that Perry had come walking out of the house intending to surrender.

--Ultra Megatron 02:15, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

There appear to be stories. Impossible from here to know which is correct. Both should probably be included. Justforasecond 18:27, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Healthy Skepticism of Hearst

I'm certainly not going to act as an apologist for the SLA but...

In the conditions of captivity section (especially) and in some other places there were some disputable claims regarding Hearst's captivity that were treated as facts. I've tried to `correct those by adding "Hearst claims..." and such.

Also, there were some rather strange remarks that didn't seem to serve any purpose beyond making the SLA seem really, really bad. The line, for example, that claimed DeFreeze was "remorseless" regarding the killings during the Hibernia bank and that he "rationalized" them as "accidents" in the communique. I've heard the communique: While it may be fair to describe the tone as "remorseless" it's certainly dangerously close to editorializing, no? Further, he doesn't exactly "rationalize" them as "accidents." First, "rationalize" like "remorseless" smacks of editorializing. Second, "accidents" implies they didn't mean to shoot them. DeFreeze makes clear that their intent was to shoot the victims and he coldly lays out why.

Finally, it doesn't seem fair to suddenly start using "Tania" for Hearst's name in the discussion of her crimes. While her "Tania" identity has been established earlier in the article, it seems confusing to suddenly start using it for just one section.

I think that covers the edits I made.

Nicks1199 23:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I pretty much agree with your edits, except for the SLA's claim that the conditions of Hearst's captivity were in accordance with the Geneva Conventions; it's not a POV statement for the entry to point out that this claim was untenable.--Galliaz 00:34, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Infobox headers

Three items in the box strike me as problematic: (1) Listing the SLA's "Role" as "Guerilla Warfare," (2) including a listing for "Battles/Wars," and (3) omitting the Hearst kidnapping. I would list the SLA's role as "Armed Political Action," and replace "Battles/Wars" with "Activities," and include the Hearst kidnapping. It is profoundly mistaken to describe the assassination of the two unarmed school administrators as a "battle."--Galliaz 12:14, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Even though my initial query received no response, I still think this is quite a serious problem which mars the entry. Since I can't edit the infobox without breaking it (which I'd rather not do, of course), I'd appreciate a good-faith engagement with the questions I've raised here.--Galliaz 22:07, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

The Hearst kidnapping has been added and the I added a field to the infobox template to make the label an editable field. I used the word "actions" which I think sounds better than "Activities,". As for changing SLA's role from "Guerilla Warfare," to "Armed Political Action,": I don't think "Armed Political Action," goes far enough but I would comprise if you have another term between "Guerilla Warfare," and "Armed Political Action," -- Esemono 01:22, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree with you: finding an alternative to "Guerilla Warfare" is pretty difficult. I vote to keep it as it is.--Galliaz 02:12, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Symbiowhat?

Is "symbionese" a proper English adjective to "symbiosis", or wasn't it freely invented where the proper word is "symbiotic"? Oh, those revolutionaries!
If so I think that ought to be mentioned in the article. Maikel 08:36, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Language

"Foster, an African American, was popular on the left and in the black community, and his murder was unanimously viewed as counterproductive; " Dont think this is appropriate, what murder would the author have viewed as productive? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.43.217.25 (talk) 16:57, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Agreed; that language suggests that some murders are productive. I'll remove the whole second part of that sentence ("... and his murder was unanimously viewed as counterproductive; thus, the S.L.A. garnered no support from that event.") The word "unanimously" is misused anyway, unless there was a survey I don't know about. Gingerwiki 21:25, 4 November 2007 (UTC)