Son's Fight Ends in SLA Arrests

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[ambrose]

Son's Fight Ends in SLA Arrests

By JIM WASSERMAN
Associated Press Writer

January 16, 2002, 9:59 PM EST

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Jon Opsahl was 15 and had argued with his mother the day she was slain in a bank robbery. He spent the next 27 years pressuring authorities to bring her killers to justice.

On Wednesday, he got his wish. Police announced they had charged five former members of the Symbionese Liberation Army * including former fugitive Sara Jane Olson * in the 1975 slaying.

"Our family has waited for 26 years for this day," Opsahl said. "I'm very happy that my mother's murder is getting the attention it deserves and I trust that justice will be served."

A physician at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Opsahl kept up the vigil to bring his mother's killers to justice even when his three siblings, all doctors, suggested he let it go.

In the Opsahl family, he said, members dealt with their tragedy with "a stiff upper lip."

His mother, Myrna Opsahl, was 42 when she died. As the years passed without arrests, Opsahl started a Web site in her honor and posted letters to authorities.

He wrote to Gov. Gray Davis, saying, "I am angry that her murder has gone almost unnoticed by the authorities and that the known perpetrators have not been held accountable."

He also wrote to Olson, who pleaded guilty in Los Angeles last year in a separate case with ties to the SLA: "I know what you did and I know who you really are."

Opsahl asked people to send letters to Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, urging her to prosecute the case.

On Wednesday, four suspects, including Olson, were taken into custody; the fifth suspect remained at large.

"This is kind of 'mission accomplished' as far as I'm concerned," Opsahl said.

Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas praised the "tenacity and dedication" of Opsahl and his family.

"He's been a force to be reckoned with in the last 25 years trying to bring justice where justice is due," Blanas said.

___

On the Net:

Opsahl's site: www.smartlivingassociation.org

[ambrose]

The following liberal tripe was posted on Opsahl's website Forum... I can hardly believe my eyes...

You have a very impressive website that shows that you have dedicated alot of your time to the issue at hand, however you fail to uphold your own ethic in smart living by fighting what you have no control over, the death of your mother. The prosecution of the FORMER SLA members will do nothing to bring your mother back, and if your mother was a true christian I can't imagine that she would want you to destroy the lives of those families and their loved ones. WE AS A SOCIETY NEED TO PROGRESS WITH LOVE AND PEACE, BECAUSE AN EYE FOR AN EYE WILL MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND!

[prometheus]

Headline is a bit misleading since his real fight to convict our homegrown Taliban terrorists is just starting, and the fact that they should have been charged with murder years ago an indication of that. The sentences these people got when they were arrested were incredibly light one considering the nature and magnitudes of their crimes.

[ambrose]

Some liberal puke posted this on his website forum:

What a shame ie is you feel that the best way to honor your own mother's death is to forward some petty conservative AM-radio-friendly agenda. In my opinion as someone who has lost close family, your mother's memory deserves better. You are using her for your own ends. Yuck.

[goldstategop]

Time Sara Jane Olson receives exactly the same sentence no more and no less than Myrna Opsahl received when she was murdered in the course of the SLA bank robbery. As someone who lost a mother I don't like it when someone lost theirs especially after an argument they regretted and couldn't say I love you we shouldn't have argued. Kudos to Jon Opsahl for being true to his departed mother's memory and for never giving up all these years to make sure that justice would be served. Now its time Olson pay the ultimate price for her crime and after nearly 3 decades on the run from the law its clear the attempted murder in Los Angeles wasn't the only thing she was guilty of. Yeah no matter how hard you try your past eventually catches up with you. Looks like Olson's has caught up with hers for good this time.

[prometheus]

You have a very impressive website that shows that you have dedicated alot of your time to the issue at hand, however you fail to uphold your own ethic in smart living by fighting what you have no control over, the death of your mother. The prosecution of the FORMER SLA members will do nothing to bring your mother back, and if your mother was a true christian I can't imagine that she would want you to destroy the lives of those families and their loved ones. WE AS A SOCIETY NEED TO PROGRESS WITH LOVE AND PEACE, BECAUSE AN EYE FOR AN EYE WILL MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND!

Well those disgusting words show that the Sob sisters and slobbering brothers of these murderers are still out there in the hinterlands. The Katie Look at me I am a multi-millionaire Courics and Bryant What can I blame on Ronald Reagan today Gumballs of the world will take up the crybaby angel in a New York minute. Of course, there is no Peace, or love in society where there is no justice.

[goldstategop]

Leftist garbage. Interesting they feel such pain for terrorists AND murderers but NONE for their victims. It shows up in those kind of comments. Opsahl is a far better person than those loser posters are and he knows all about integrity. He kept pushing his mother's case when no one cared and the trail seemed to get cold. After a quarter of a century he's waited long enough. Time those SLA terrorhoids got the needle.

[ambrose]

By the time the liberal media is finished, these murderers will be portrayed as the "victims"!!! Makes me wanna gag...

[prometheus]

According to CourtTV, "The Harrises served six years in prison for the Hearst kidnapping and other SLA crimes. Other SLA associates were also tried. Steven Soliah, the only person to be tried for the fatal Carmichael robbery, was acquitted. Bortin served 18 months in prison for parole violations. Yoshimura served six months for weapons possession. Kathleen Soliah, now known as Sara Jane Olson, was arrested in 1999 after 23 years as a fugitive. Her trial is set for this year. Kilgore is still a fugitive." Patty Hearst spent two years in prison before President Carter commuted her sentence in exchange for some Hearst moola. The other members of these Terrorists burned to death when their hideout caught fire on or shot by police On May 16, 1974 during a shoot out.

[prometheus]

I was watching the BBC last night and they had a story expressing concerns about the way the Taliban prisoners are being treated in Cuba.

[ambrose]

I was watching the BBC last night and they had a story expressing concerns about the way the Taliban prisoners are being treated in Cuba.

I share those concerns too. I am concerned that they are still alive. Just shoot them "while trying to escape" and be done with it...

[prometheus]

SLA also murdered Marcus Foster, the black superintendent of Oakland's public schools, whom they accused of wanting mandatory photo ID cards for high school students.

[prometheus]

Bortin is married to one of Sara Jane Olson's sisters so that makes him her brother-in-law.

[onyx]

I've just heard on KNX-1070 Los Angeles that Emily Harris has been arrested!

[ambrose]

who is that?

[ambrose]

Never mind. This is Emily Harris:

Kind of looks like Hillary

[onyx]

In her book, Patty Hearst claims that Emily Harris shot and killed Mrs. Opsahl. Emily Harris and her lesbo partner lived a "quiet" life in Altadena, CA where neighbors describe the twosome as "nice women, fond of dogs and rabbits."

[ambrose]

It is sickening that this liberal c**t has been allowed to roam free all this time.

[onyx]

Yes, it's beyond sickening and that's what she is --- just as you described! A lesbo to boot.

[mountaineer]

No doubt Emily kind of thinks like Hillary, too. Power to the people, and all that.