Donald DeFreeze | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot from 1973 | |
| Born | Donald David DeFreeze November 16, 1943 |
| Died | May 17, 1974 (aged 30) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide by gunshot |
| Other names | Field Marshal Cinque, Cinque Mtume |
| Movement | Symbionese Liberation Army |
Donald David DeFreeze (November 16, 1943 – May 17, 1974), also known as Cinque Mtume and using the nom de guerre "General Field Marshal Cinque", was known as the "spokesman" of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small, American far-left group that formed in Oakland, California in 1973. Some analysts suggested he was a figurehead; others said he was the leader. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he dropped out of high school and was involved from the age of 14 in frequent brushes with the criminal justice system. He received generous probation in the late 1960s, leading some sources to suggest he was serving as a police informant to the Los Angeles Police Department.
He and several white allies began to make plans for armed action that they believed would arouse the black community and attract more recruits. Three SLA soldiers fatally shot Marcus Foster, the Superintendent of Public Schools in Oakland, the first black superintendent of any major public school system, and wounded his deputy. They mistakenly believed he supported a program of student IDs, and, by his assassination, alienated the black community. Two members of the SLA were arrested in January 1974, convicted and sentenced to prison for the crimes.
DeFreeze and co-conspirators next kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst February 1974, seeking a ransom and attention. Police pressure rose. During a shootout with law enforcement in Los Angeles, DeFreeze committed suicide by gunshot when he and five SLA members made a stand in a burning house. A private investigation before this last assault suggested that DeFreeze may have been a police informant and agent provocateur from before the founding days of the SLA. His remains were returned to Cleveland, where the funeral was organized at the family's request by members of the Sunni Orthodox Moslem sect.