Presented by WLA Comrade Mooseman
On August 23, 1973, Jan Eric Olsson walked into a bank in Norrmalmstorg square in central Stockholm. During a robbery attempt, he shot a policeman and then took four hostages. He made several demands. One demand was that his friend Clark Olofsson, who was serving an eight year prison sentence, be brought to the bank. The authorities complied and an eight day hostage crisis ensued. The hostages were held in the bank vault. During the siege, Olofsson was noted to walk around the vault singing Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”. At one point the police drilled a hole through the vault ceiling and took this famous picture.
Ultimately, the police used tear gas and Olsson and Olofsson surrendered without harming the hostages. The victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. They maintained that they were more frightened by the police than their captors. The term “Stockholm syndrome” was coined to describe this phenomenon whereby a victim develops sympathy, attachment and begins to identify with his or her captor.
_________________________
On February 4, 1974, a 19 year-old heiress and UC Berkeley sophomore was abducted from her apartment in a blue bathrobe. The left-wing urban guerilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army* first attempted to exchange their captive, Patty Hearst, for jailed comrades. When this failed, the SLA demanded that Hearst’s family donate food to the poor. The SLA then refused to release her because they felt the $6 million dollars worth of food donated was of poor quality.
Two months later, Hearst announced she was joining the SLA and had assumed the name Tania (inspired by a comrade of Che Guevara). She was later videotaped wielding an M1 carbine, actively participating in the robbery of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco.
Patty Hearst as “Tania” during the Hibernia bank robbery and in a SLA publicity photo.
Hearst was captured with other SLA members in 1975. During booking, she listed her occupation as “Urban Guerilla”.
___________________
On October 25, 2008, a dear member of the Michigan community was taken from us.
October 25, 2008 known to some as “the Rape of Bunyan”
I am sure that Paul has fought the good fight. But even his wooden resolve has its limits. There are disturbing reports emanating from the land where tear gas is considered a pheromone. One report has it that Paul has shaved his luxurious lumberjack beard and now wears a timid half beard. In June, a Quality Dairy security camera captured Paul purchasing a case of Natural Ice. Those of us who know Paul remember that he is an import man—maybe an occasional microbrew. One source has Paul answering to the name “P-Dawg”, however reports that he has changed his last name to “Brah-nyan” have been discredited.
In this grainy image from an Ingham County couch burning, a man in a plaid flannel shirt is seen cavorting around the fire.
If the report that this man is Paul hold true, it may already be too late.
This Saturday may be our last chance to bring our friend home before it is too late. If you have the means to venture into the forbidden zone to cheer on our troops, do so with gusto. The rest of us are left to pray to our deity or deities. We must bring back our brother before he becomes a brah. Otherwise, when he does return (and he will) he may have lost his true self and be fit only for bit parts in John Waters movies.
Paul in happier times.
*The Symbionese Liberation Army, despite the similarity in name as well as a shared love of unicorns and Zima, has no affiliation with the Wolverine Liberation Army.
Popularity: 2%
Loading ...