Soledad Brothers -- August 7, 2020

Fifty years ago today, on 07-August-1970. I think I heard on the radio that an armed man had entered a courtroom in the Marin County Courthouse and taken hostages. The man was Jonathan Jackson, 17-year-old brother of George Jackson. He provided guns to defendant, James McClain, and two prisoners waiting to testify. They took the judge, Harold Haley, the deputy district attorney and three jurors as hostages. I remember seeing photos of the judge with a sawed-off shotgun taped to his neck. The kidnappers demanded the release of the Soledad Brothers, a group of prisoners which included George Jackson.  As the kidnappers and hostages drove away in a van, a kidnapper shot at the police, and police fired back.  The judge was killed with the shotgun, the ADA was left paralyzed, and one of the jurors was wounded. Three of the kidnappers died.