Symbionese Liberation Army
 Symbionese Liberation Army    | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1973 |
| Founder | • California Department of Corrections • CIA |
| A phony left-wing terrorist group created by the CIA, used to discredit radicals in the 1970s. | |
The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (commonly referred to simply as the SLA) was a small, American far-left militant organization active between 1973 and 1975. The FBI and wider American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the first terrorist organization to rise from the American left. During its existence from 1973 to 1975, the group killed at least two people, committed armed bank robberies, attempted bombings, and other violent crimes including the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
A 2016 book by Brad Schreiber, claimed that the federal government and the California Department of Corrections were involved in creating the SLA, a "phony left-wing group" the government used to discredit radicals in the 1970s. Schreiber said then-Governor Ronald Reagan’s administration directed a CIA official to create the Black Cultural Association at the Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, as part of developing the SLA.[1]
