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A listener note, this episode contains descriptions of violence and references to sexual assault and may not be suitable for a younger audience.

It's late in the morning on January 11th, 1974.

Sin Q and Tume is tossing and turning on an old musty bed in Concord, California.

He has a splitting headache, his mouth is hot and parched.

And as the sunshine slants in through broken blinds, it feels like sin is a pain in his head.

Sin Q rubbs his eyes and tries to shake off the misery.

He's in the throes of another brutal hangover, the predictable result of staying up late, drinking bottles of wine with his comrades and talking to the early morning about how they're going to change the world.

There was a lot of conversation about the need to overthrow America's system to change the world.

There was a lot of big promises about actions the group is planning to take.

But for Sin Q, making promises has never been enough.

He founded the Symbianese Liberation Army, a left-wing organization to push for real change.

And recently, Sin Q led a dangerous mission that got the Hall Bay area talking.

Sin Q and two of his comrades attacked the superintendent of Oakland's public schools, a man named Marcus Foster.

The superintendent wanted to station arm security guards in the area of schools, a move that Sin Q believed was an act of fascism.

So one night, after creeping through the shadows, Sin Q and some others charged at Foster and then gunned him down and called blood.

The local police quickly launched a manhunt to find the suspects and the story was all over the news.

After taking public responsibility for the crime, Sin Q predicted that he and his comrades would be seen as heroes fighting for justice.

But instead, the SLA faced widespread condemnation.

And Sin Q was left searching for another action that could rehabilitate his group's image.

After some discussion, the group settled on a plan.

They decided to kidnap Patricia Hearst, the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and an ares to a media empire.

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