Soledad Brothers

The Soledad Brothers were three African American inmates charged with murdering prison guard John V. Mills at California's Soledad Prison on January 13, 1970. George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette were said to have murdered Mills in retaliation for the shooting deaths of three black prisoners during a prison fight a few days earlier by another guard, O.G. Miller.

Activist and author Angela Davis took up the cause of the Soledad Brothers after reading about the case in February 1970, and became the chair of their defense committee.^[1] Davis said, "The situation in Soledad is part of a continuous pattern in the Black community. Three Black men who were unarmed, who were not trying to escape, are killed, and this is called justifiable homicide...One white guard is killed, and this is immediately called murder."^[2]

On August 3, 1970 the Marin County Civic Center, which houses the Marin County Superior Court, was the scene of an assault by a group of African-American political activists led by Jonathan Jackson, the 17-year old brother of Black Panther militant George Jackson, demanding the release of the "Soledad Brothers". The group released several prisoners in the courtroom and took a number of hostages including the presiding judge, Harold Haley. A shotgun was taped to the judge's neck. While they were attempting to escape, Haley and prisoners William Christmas, James McClain, and Jonathan Jackson were killed as they attempted to drive away from the courthouse.

Angela Davis, who purchased the guns used in the escape attempt, was later tried and acquitted of charges in connection with the escape.^[1]

On August 21, 1971, days before his trial in the guard's killing, the 29-year-old Jackson launched an uprising at San Quentin with a 9mm pistol. Gun in hand, he released an entire floor of prisoners from the maximum-security wing, crying, "This is it, gentlemen, the Dragon has come!" In the ensuing melee, three guards were killed, as were two prisoners suspected of being snitches, before George Jackson was killed by a guard.

On March 27, 1972, the two surviving Soldedad Brothers -- Clutchette and Drumgo -- were acquitted by a San Francisco jury of the original charges of murdering a prison guard. ^[3]

References

Further reading

• Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (1970) ISBN 1-55652-230-4
• Min S Yee. The Melancholy History of Soledad Prison; In Which a Utopian Scheme Turns Bedlam (1973) ISBN 0-06-129800-X

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