On this day, May 17, in 1974, nearly 500 police officers surrounded a tiny home in Compton, Calif., where members of a highly sought-after American militant group were hiding.
The Los Angeles Police Department targeted the Symbionese Liberation Army for bank robberies, killings and most notably for the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
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The LAPD closed in on the SLA’s Compton hideout three months after Hearst’s kidnapping, and on May 17 sent droves of armed officers to the scene.
A battle ensued as police fired 1,200 rounds of ammunition on the home and SLA members shot back. Police then threw containers of tear gas into the home, which sparked a fire and killed six militants trapped inside.
Hearst was not inside the home. She was captured by the FBI in September 1975 and sentenced to seven years in prison, though she only served 22 months of her term.
The last captured member of the SLA, James William Kilgore, was released from prison May 10.
