Soledad Brothers

The Soledad Brothers were three African-American inmates charged with the murder of a prison guard, John Vincent Mills, at California's Soledad State Prison on January 16, 1970. George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette were alleged to have murdered Mills in retaliation for the shooting deaths by another prison guard, Opie G. Miller, of three black inmates during a fight in the exercise yard on January 13. The killing of Mills occurred 30 minutes after Soledad prisoners learned that Miller had been cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury.

The Soledad Brothers case became a leftist cause célèbre. A defense committee was organized on the three men's behalf, publicizing them as political prisoners. In August 1971, Jackson was shot and killed during an escape attempt from San Quentin State Prison. In March 1972, Drumgo and Clutchette were acquitted by a jury of Mills' murder.